Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small, solidified fragment of lava.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small stone; specifically, in the plural, fragmentary materials ejected from volcanoes in eruption, varying in size from that of a pea to that of a walnut. They are sometimes so cellular in structure as to float on the surface of water.
  • noun In anatomy, an ear-stone; an otolith; one of the hard concretions found in the fluid of the labyrinth of the ear of many animals. See otolith.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, diminutive of lapis, stone.]

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Examples

  • Nucella lapillus is an intertidal snail commonly found on the rocky coasts of the North Atlantic.

    Archive 2009-04-01 AYDIN 2009

  • Comparison of shell sizes of N. lapillus from 19 sites.

    Archive 2009-04-01 AYDIN 2009

  • I don't see it being cheaper to max out rendering capacity on laptops any time soon, and then there is the issue of heat ... lapillus delightt

    Is The Desktop PC Dead? | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • Fisher et al. have discovered that between 1915-1922 and 2007, the shell length of N. lapillus at 19 sites around Mount Desert Island, Maine increased by an average of 22.6%.

    Archive 2009-04-01 AYDIN 2009

  • Accretionary lapilli are formed in an eruption column or cloud by moisture or electrostatic forces, with the volcanic ash nucleating on some object and then accreting to it in layers before the accretionary lapillus falls from the cloud.

    Accretionary lapilli - The Panda's Thumb 2010

  • Fisher et al. have discovered that between 1915-1922 and 2007, the shell length of N. lapillus at 19 sites around Mount Desert Island, Maine increased by an average of 22.6%.

    An intertidal snail increases in size since the early 20th century AYDIN 2009

  • Nucella lapillus is an intertidal snail commonly found on the rocky coasts of the North Atlantic.

    An intertidal snail increases in size since the early 20th century AYDIN 2009

  • Comparison of shell sizes of N. lapillus from 19 sites.

    An intertidal snail increases in size since the early 20th century AYDIN 2009

  • This issue contains articles on the use of dog whelks (Nucella lapillus) to produce purple dye, neolithic ornaments made from shells of the spiny oyster Spondylus gaederopus, the clausiliid snail Papillifera papillaris (by yours truly), an obituary for Nicholas Shackleton (1937-2006) and other useful bits of information on mollusks and archaeology.

    Archive 2006-04-01 AYDIN 2006

  • Since, according to our modern researches into this dye, one fish, the common _Purpura lapillus_, produces only about one drop of the liquor, then it would take about 10,000 fish to dye 1 lb. of wool, so that

    Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life

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  • lapillus

    A small, solidified fragment of lava.

    April 29, 2022