pelvic fin

noun

: one of the paired fins of a fish that are homologous with the hind limbs of a quadruped

Examples of pelvic fin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some scans revealed that Tiktaalik had unexpectedly massive hips (more like Thicctaalik) and a surprisingly big pelvic fin. New York Times, 29 Apr. 2022 The three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, moving their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along, writes Nat Geo’s Douglas Main. National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2020 These three-foot-long creatures live near Australia, and, as their name implies, move their pectoral fins in the front and pelvic fins in the back to plod along the seafloor—or even atop coral reefs, outside the water, at low tide. National Geographic, 23 Jan. 2020 One possible explanation was that the marine sticklebacks had already carried a rare mutation for the loss of the pelvic fin, one that arose in their ancestors. Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019 Adding and subtracting repeats would then have been an easy way to fine-tune the expression of the genes involved in pelvic fin development. Quanta Magazine, 5 Feb. 2019 Their pelvic fins have been modified into a sucking disk. Rachel Becker, The Verge, 21 Sep. 2018 Some have looked at coelacanths and sarcopterygians, or lungfish (the latter use their pelvic fins to move in a motion like walking). Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 9 Feb. 2018 Typically, these pectoral and pelvic fins — which correspond to forelimbs and hindlimbs in land vertebrates — are small and largely used for balance and steering. Steph Yin, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pelvic fin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pelvic fin was in 1882

Dictionary Entries Near pelvic fin

Cite this Entry

“Pelvic fin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pelvic%20fin. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pelvic fin

noun
: either of a pair of fins of a fish that correspond to the hind limbs of a four-footed animal compare pectoral fin
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