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fossil

/ˈfɑsəl/
/ˈfɒsəl/
IPA guide

Other forms: fossils

Fossils are the really, really old remains of a plant or animal — so old they've turned to stone. Fossil is also an insult for an old or old-fashioned person.

Fossils are very important to scientists who study animals: they're one of the ways we learn about the beasts and critters of the past. A fossil is an imprint of the bones of that animal in rock or stone. If you see a reconstruction of a dinosaur in a museum, scientists used fossils to figure out how it should look. Also, calling someone a fossil is like calling them a geezer or old fogey. It's not a compliment.

Definitions of fossil
  1. noun
    the remains (or an impression) of a plant or animal that existed in a past geological age and that has been excavated from the soil
    see moresee less
    types:
    fucoid
    a fossilized cast or impression of algae of the order Fucales
    belemnite
    a conical calcareous fossil tapering to a point at one end and with a conical cavity at the other end containing (when unbroken) a small chambered phragmocone from the shell of any of numerous extinct cephalopods of the family Belemnitidae
    ammonite, ammonoid
    an extinct marine mollusk with a coiled, chambered shell or the shell itself
    guide fossil, index fossil
    a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found
    microfossil
    the remains or impression of a plant or animal from a past geological age, so tiny that it must be studied with a microscope
    wormcast
    fossil trail of a worm
    type of:
    remains
    any object that is left unused or still extant
  2. adjective
    characteristic of a fossil
  3. noun
    someone whose style is out of fashion
    synonyms: dodo, fogey, fogy
Pronunciation
US
/ˈfɑsəl/
UK
/ˈfɒsəl/
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