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stickleback definition

stickle·back (stik′əl bak′)

noun

any of a family (Gasterosteidae, order Gasterosteiformes) of small, bony-plated, marine and freshwater bony fishes with two to eleven sharp spines in front of the dorsal fin: the male builds a nest for the female's eggs

Etymology: ME stykylbak < OE sticel, a prick, sting < base of sticca (see stick) + ME bak, back

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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