ˈlamprē noun
or lamprey eel
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French lampreie, lamproie, from Medieval Latin lampreda, alteration of Late Latin naupreda, nauprida, probably from Gaulish
: any of various freshwater and saltwater vertebrates that constitute the order Hyperoartia, are widely distributed in temperate and subarctic regions, and resemble eels but have a large circular jawless suctorial mouth with numerous small conical teeth in a cuplike cavity and one to three larger ones on the palate, a single nostril consisting of a blind sac, seven gill pouches opening internally into a canal lying below and communicating with the esophagus just behind the mouth, and small eggs which produce toothless eyeless ammocoetes larvae — see petromyzon , sea lamprey