OPERCULUM • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Operculum

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noun

Operculum n. (pl. L. opercula, E. operculums)

(Bot.)

(a)

The lid of a pitcherform leaf.

(b)

The lid of the urnlike capsule of mosses.

(Anat.)

(a)

Any lidlike or operculiform process or part; as, the opercula of a dental follicle.

(b)

The fold of integument, usually supported by bony plates, which protects the gills of most fishes and some amphibians; the gill cover; the gill lid.

(c)

The principal opercular bone in the upper and posterior part of the gill cover.

(Zool.)

(a)

The lid closing the aperture of various species of shells, as the common whelk.

(b)

Any lid-shaped structure closing the aperture of a tube or shell.

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Etymology of 'Operculum'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Operculum" Quotes from Famous Books

... Operculum: a lid or covering: in Diptera, the chitinous envelope covering the lower part of the muscid mouth; the labrum-epipharynx of Dimmock: the scutes covering the meso-thoracic stigmata: in Aleurodidae, the lid-like structure ...

— Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology • John. B. Smith

... oval and flattened. The transverse furrow is at the extremity (posterior) of the body and the small portion, which is thus apparently cut off, is the cap-like or operculum-like structure which gives the name to the species. Klebs maintains that the two furrows are not connected, but in this he is certainly mistaken, provided we have the same species under consideration. Very common ...

— Marine Protozoa from Woods Hole - Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 21:415-468, 1901 • Gary N. Galkins