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lateral line

noun

Simple meaning

A sense organ of a fish running lengthwise down each of its sides from the vicinity of the operculum to the base of the tail.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lateruhllyn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlætɚəlˈlaɪn

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. ichthyology

    A sense organ of a fish running lengthwise down each of its sides from the vicinity of the operculum to the base of the tail, used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water.

  2. ichthyology

    Sense organs of fish and amphibians; believed to detect pressure changes in the water

  3. herpetology

    An equivalent organ found in tadpoles and aquatic salamanders that runs down the head and trunk.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: (ichthyology) A sense organ of a fish running lengthwise down each of its sides from the vicinity of the operculum to the base of the tail, used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water.

Used this way, lateral line is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.