invertebrate

adjective

in·ver·te·brate | \ (ˌ)in-ˈvər-tə-brət

, -ˌbrāt\

Definition of invertebrate

1 : lacking a spinal column also : of, relating to, or concerned with invertebrate animals

2 : lacking in strength or vitality : weak

Other Words from invertebrate Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about invertebrate

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of invertebrate in a Sentence

an invertebrate Congress that blithely went along with the President's ill-conceived plan

Recent Examples on the Web

Such a refusal to relinquish power would plunge the nation into an existential constitutional crisis in which our invertebrate Republican friends will be no help whatsoever. — Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, "Column: High anxiety: 9 things that are keeping me up at night," 5 July 2019 Luque wasn't initially planning on studying invertebrate fossils; he had been drawn to paleontology by the promise of dinosaurs and ancient mammals. — National Geographic, "How did crabs evolve 'crabbiness'? It's complicated.," 24 Apr. 2019 Corals are invertebrate animals with simple stomachs and mouths surrounded by tentacles. — James R. Hagerty, WSJ, "Ruth Gates Raced to Save Coral Reefs by Breeding Hardier Specimens," 2 Nov. 2018 The fiddler crabs are like little invertebrate peacocks. — James Gorman, New York Times, "For Fiddler Crabs, ‘Size Does Matter’," 26 Feb. 2018 On these lands, the general public are allowed to collect small amounts of plant and invertebrate fossils, says Polly. — Maya Wei-haas, Smithsonian, "What Shrinking Fossil-Rich National Monuments Means for Science," 19 Dec. 2017 Sea squirts also give us a very useful illustration of the vertebrates’ closest invertebrate relatives. — Bill Hatcher, National Geographic, "Why You Move the Way You Do," 28 Feb. 2016 In the wild, these slugs are known to feed on hydroids, an invertebrate marine organism. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "This Sea Slug Has a Crafty Way of Getting Super-Sized Meals," 4 Nov. 2017 But there are also large numbers of small invertebrate animals, including insects, which are the foundations of the ecosystem. — National Geographic, "Saving Half the Planet for Nature Isn't As Crazy As It Seems," 27 Mar. 2016

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