fossil
nounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈfɒsl̩//
- United States//ˈfɑsl̩//
The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
noun
- 1
The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
With the permission of the Keeper of the fossil collection, therefore, the specimen was subjected to a further careful removal of the matrix in the requisite directions.
Within the Hepaticae two types of fossils can be distinguished: those with sufficient characters to assign them to an order and those with more obscure characters.
- 2
Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.
You know what, we’ve got a limited number of heartbeats in this world so if you’re only truly happy researching fossils and can make it work for you, you go for it.
- 3
A fossil word.
- 4
figurativeAnything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
- 5
figurativeAn extremely old or outdated person.
I do not want to convey any disrespectful notion or slight when I call those good and learned men fossils, but my experience is that people are apt to fossilise even at a University if they follow the same paths too persistently.
All at once there was a tapping at the window pane. Atherton was staring at us from without. He shouted through the glass, ‘Come out of that, you fossils! — I’ve news for you!’
“[…] What have you done with your old fossil?” “M. Poirot has gone to Paris,” I replied coldly. “And I can tell you, M. Giraud, that he is anything but an old fossil. He has solved many cases that have completely baffled the English police.”
- 6
A piece of content, which, despite its age, is being repromoted to a large volume of users by the algorithm.
Etymology
From French fossile, from Latin fossilis (“something which has been dug up”), from fodio (“to dig up”).
Forms
- plural
- fossils
fossil · The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
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