Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ornithology, the cutting edge of a bird's bill; either of the opposing edges of the upper and under mandible, which meet in apposition along the commissure.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) The cutting edge of the bill of a bird.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun zoology The cutting edge of the bill of a bird.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

New Latin, from Ancient Greek, meaning "to cut". See -tome.

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Examples

  • More derived oviraptorosaurs were toothless, but the bony premaxillary margins of their upper jaw were serrated, raising the possibility that the tomium was serrated too.

    Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

  • More derived oviraptorosaurs were toothless, but the bony premaxillary margins of their upper jaw were serrated, raising the possibility that the tomium was serrated too.

    The war on parasites: an oviraptorosaur’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

  • This only involves removing 1-2 mm of the tomium by the way – it isn’t anything like the brutal de-beaking indulged in by the factory chicken industry.

    The war on parasites: a pigeon’s eye view Darren Naish 2006

  • This only involves removing 1-2 mm of the tomium by the way – it isn’t anything like the brutal de-beaking indulged in by the factory chicken industry.

    Archive 2006-07-01 Darren Naish 2006

Comments

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  • The cutting edge of a bird's bill.

    January 8, 2008

  • Once a rare element named after a famous scientist, Tom, in a powerful windstorm it was blown right off the atomic table out the window into the yard where a bird snaffled it. The rest, as they say, is history.

    March 20, 2024