Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Covered or partially covered with scales.
- adjective Shedding scales or flakes; flaking.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Covered with a scale or incrustation, as a boiler or kettle in which water containing mineral salts which become insoluble on heating has been evaporated.
- Covered with scales; provided with scales; scaled; squamate; scutellate.
- Scale-like; of the nature of a scale; squamous.
- Furfuraceous; scarious; desquamated; exfoliated; scabby.
- In botany, composed of scales lying over one another: as, a scaly bulb; having scales scattered over it: as, a scaly stem.
- Shabby; mean; stingy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Covered or abounding with scales.
- adjective Resembling scales, laminæ, or layers.
- adjective Low Mean; low.
- adjective (Bot.) Composed of scales lying over each other; ; covered with scales.
- adjective (Zoöl.) the pangolin.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Covered or abounding with
scales ; as, a scaly fish. - adjective Resembling scales, laminae, or layers.
- adjective dated Mean; low.
- adjective Composed of scales lying over each other; as, a scaly bulb; covered with scales; as, a scaly stem.
- noun South Africa A species of
yellowfish , Labeobarbus natalensis
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having the body covered or partially covered with thin horny plates, as some fish and reptiles
- adjective rough to the touch; covered with scales or scurf
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Atopic dermatitis affects 1% to 3% of adults and is characterized by scaly red patches, usually on the face and hands.
A Videogame for Arachnophobes Ann Lukits 2011
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Even so, companies that recycle old artwork still try and sneak in scaly-skinned dromaeosaurs if you let them.
Archive 2006-01-01 Darren Naish 2006
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First came a troop of black men, and a dragon (i.e. a man in scaly armour) mounted on an elephant in their midst.
The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton William Henry Burton Wilkins 1897
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Pangolins Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla, also known as scaly anteaters, used to be quite common on the island, but like many of the island's animals, they were hunted for their unusual features -- in this case, the scales, and their meat.
Archive 2008-06-01 Michael Turton 2008
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The bark is sometimes scaly and for that reason, it is called scaly bark in the eastern part of the State.
North Carolina and its Resources. North Carolina. Board of Agriculture. 1896
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Pangolins, often called scaly anteaters, are covered in tough, overlapping scales.
WN.com - Articles related to Young, Poor, and Tricked into the Sex Trade 2010
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Pangolins, often called scaly anteaters, are covered in tough, overlapping scales.
WN.com - Articles related to Young, Poor, and Tricked into the Sex Trade 2010
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Police in southern Johor state seized 31 live pangolins -- also known as scaly anteaters -- packed in blue sacks in the living room of a house and found another 31 frozen creatures in a freezer, marine police official Mohammad Naser Marzuke said.
News 2009
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But, in real-time conversation, this dialogue takes another kind of scaly skin altogether.
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"Him's good for he," and in general use a very "scaly" lingo, learned from cod-fish, one would think.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 Various
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