n. Any of a group of extinct squidlike cephalopod mollusks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, having a cone-shaped internal shell. [New Latin belemnītēs, from Greek belemnon, dart; see gwelə- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.