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
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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Lamprey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lamprey. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lamprey
noun
lam·prey
ˈlam-prē 
-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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