Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Adapted for tearing apart flesh.
- noun A tooth adapted for tearing apart flesh, especially one of the last upper premolar or first lower molar teeth in carnivorous mammals.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Sectorial; adapted for cutting and tearing flesh: applied to the specialized trenchant or cutting molar or premolar of the Carnivora.
- noun A sectorial tooth; the last upper premolar or first lower molar tooth of those Carnivora which have a typically carnivorous dentition, as the cat or dog.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Anat.) Adapted to eating flesh.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One of the
teeth used by acarnivore forshearing flesh , being the last upperpremolar and the first lowermolar .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of a tooth) adapted for shearing flesh
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The incisors are somewhat larger than, but the canines and premolars approximate to, those of the felines; the crown of the incisors is cuspidate, and the premolars increase gradually in size, with the exception of the fourth in the upper jaw, the carnassial, which is treble the size of the one next to it.
Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Robert Armitage Sterndale 1870
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In that case, what price the formidable carnassial teeth, the murderous claws of the lion and the leopard?
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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Grey wolf bones were found below the 960 BP layer, and a wolf carnassial tooth even lower.
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In that case, what price the formidable carnassial teeth, the murderous claws of the lion and the leopard?
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009
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Turns out, polar bear teeth are not “hardly different” – their back teeth are distinctly more carnassial (for ripping meat, not grinding) than those of their ursid (bear family) cousins.
More On Ham's Creation Museum, Tyrannosaur Teeth And The Scientific Process Christopher O'Brien 2007
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Turns out, polar bear teeth are not “hardly different” – their back teeth are distinctly more carnassial (for ripping meat, not grinding) than those of their ursid (bear family) cousins.
Archive 2007-05-01 Christopher O'Brien 2007
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Carnivore gene pools have genes that program prey-detecting sense organs, prey-catching claws, carnassial teeth, meat-digesting enzymes and many other genes, all fine-tuned to co-operate with each other.
The God Delusion Dawkins, Richard, 1941- 2006
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The snout was long and canid, with heavy canines and broad carnassial teeth.
Dragonfly in Amber Gabaldon, Diana 1992
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The dentition was more powerful than that of any other species of Canis, the carnassial teeth being, on the average, much larger than those of Canis lupus.
The Annotated "Dire Wolf" Robert Hunter 1978
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Further, you know from experience that such and such definitely modified organs are invariably found with the carnivorous habit, carnassial teeth, for example, and reduced clavicles.
Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology
chained_bear commented on the word carnassial
"Hickman glanced from Ian's scowling, tattooed visage, to Rollo's impressive carnassials, and back to Jamie, who had uncocked the pistol and put it in his own belt. He breathed heavily.
'On your head be it, then,' he said abruptly, and turned away."
—Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone (New York: Delacorte Press, 2009), 326
December 17, 2009
qms commented on the word carnassial
A tiger might flex a fierce fascicle
And show you dentition carnassial.
Would he likely munch on
Your haunch for a luncheon?
I think you can bet your sweet ass he will.
June 12, 2017