Adjacent Words

unicorn fish definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Narwhal Nar"whal, n. [Sw. or Dan. narvhal; akin to Icel. n[=a]hvalr, and E. whale. the first syllable is perh. from Icel. n[=a]r corpse, dead body, in allusion to the whitish color its skin. See Whale.] [Written also narwhale.] (Zo["o]l.) An arctic cetacean (Monodon monocerous), about twenty feet long. The male usually has one long, twisted, pointed canine tooth, or tusk projecting forward from the upper jaw like a horn, whence it is called also sea unicorn, unicorn fish, and unicorn whale. Sometimes two horns are developed, side by side.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unicorn U"ni*corn, n. [OE. unicorne, F. unicorne, L. unicornis one-horned, having a single horn; unus one + cornu a horn; cf. L. unicornuus a unicorn. See One, and Horn.] 1. A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter. 2. A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? --Job xxxix. 10. Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem. 3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird. 5. (Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.] Fossil unicorn, or Fossil unicorn's horn (Med.), a substance formerly of great repute in medicine; -- named from having been supposed to be the bone or the horn of the unicorn. Unicorn fish, Unicorn whale (Zo["o]l.), the narwhal. Unicorn moth (Zo["o]l.), a notodontian moth (C[oe]lodasys unicornis) whose caterpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called also unicorn prominent. Unicorn root (Bot.), a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot (Aletris farinosa) and the blazing star (Cham[ae]lirium luteum). Both are used in medicine. Unicorn shell (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of marine gastropods having a prominent spine on the lip of the shell. Most of them belong to the genera Monoceros and Leucozonia.