adj. Abruptly truncated, as though bitten or broken off: a premorse leaf. [Latin praemorsus, past participle of praemordēre, to bite off in front : prae-, pre- + mordēre, to bite; see mer- 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.