cartilaginous fish

noun

Definition of cartilaginous fish

: any of a class (Chondrichthyes) of fishes (such as a shark, ray, or chimaera) having the skeleton wholly or largely composed of cartilage — compare bony fish, jawless fish

Examples of cartilaginous fish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Scientists have long struggled to explain why bony fishes are so small: The heaviest—the ocean sunfish—is just 2.3 metric tons, but cartilaginous fishes like whale sharks can weigh up to 34 metric tons. — Colin Barras, Science | AAAS, "This ancient fish was bigger than a whale shark—and faster than scientists ever imagined," 29 May 2018 What does a mouse have in common with a cartilaginous fish known as a little skate? — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, "What a Walking Fish Can Teach Us About Human Evolution," 9 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cartilaginous fish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about cartilaginous fish

Dictionary Entries near cartilaginous fish

cartilaginous fish

Statistics for cartilaginous fish

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for cartilaginous fish

The first known use of cartilaginous fish was in 1769

See more words from the same year

Comments on cartilaginous fish

What made you want to look up cartilaginous fish? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

chapel

a private place of worship

Test Your Vocabulary

Difficult Vocab Quiz

Which is a synonym of discomfit?

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games