Meaning

The mineralized remains of an animal or plant..

Definitions by Sense

1. The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
2. (paleontology) Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
3. (linguistics) A fossil word.
4. (figuratively) Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
5. (figuratively, derogatory) An extremely old or outdated person.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

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.”

Word Forms

• fossils

Synonyms for fossil

Related Words

When Should You Use Fossil?

Use fossil when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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