lamprey

noun

lam·​prey ˈlam-prē How to pronounce lamprey (audio)
-ˌprā
plural lampreys
: any of a family (Petromyzontidae) of eel-shaped freshwater or anadromous jawless fishes that include those cyclostomes having well-developed eyes and a large disk-shaped suctorial mouth armed with horny teeth

called also lamprey eel

Examples of lamprey in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In particular, applying pesticides and other techniques to control lamprey populations costs around $20 million per year. Christine Keiner, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2025 On the agenda was a request from the lamprey fishermen of the city of Hull for a reduction in the royal tax rate from 20 shillings per 1,000 fish to 10. Catherine Nicholson, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025 According to Johnson, that can help buy time before these tactics lose their efficacy and lampreys start to find ways to avoid them. Andrew Montequin, jsonline.com, 8 Aug. 2025 Native to Connecticut, lampreys often get a bad reputation for their sinister looking mouthparts that some believe could latch onto a human, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, according to Matthew Goclowski with DEEP’s fisheries division. Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lamprey

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French lampreie, from Medieval Latin lampreda

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lamprey was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Lamprey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lamprey. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

lamprey

noun
lam·​prey ˈlam-prē How to pronounce lamprey (audio)
-ˌprā
plural lampreys
: any of a family of jawless fishes that resemble eels and have a large sucking mouth with horny teeth

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