stickleback
[ stik-uh l-bak ]
/ ˈstɪk əlˌbæk /
noun
any of the small, pugnacious, spiny-backed fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, inhabiting northern fresh waters and sea inlets, the male of which builds and guards the nest.
Also called
prickleback.
Origin of stickleback
Words nearby stickleback
sticking place,
sticking plaster,
sticking point,
stickit,
stickle,
stickleback,
stickler,
stickler syndrome,
stickley,
stickman,
stickout
Example sentences from the Web for stickleback
British Dictionary definitions for stickleback
stickleback
/ (ˈstɪkəlˌbæk) /
noun
any small teleost fish of the family Gasterosteidae, such as Gasterosteus aculeatus (three-spined stickleback) of rivers and coastal regions and G. pungitius (ten-spined stickleback) confined to rivers. They have a series of spines along the back and occur in cold and temperate northern regions
Word Origin for stickleback
C15: from Old English
stickel prick, sting +
back
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