ˈstikəlˌbak noun
Etymology: Middle English stykylbak, from stykyl- (from Old English sticel prick, goad, thorn) + bak back; akin to Middle Low German stekel, stickel goad, thorn, Old High German stihhil goad, thorn, Old Norse stikill point of a drinking horn, Gothic stikls drinking vessel (probably originally pointed at the bottom), Old English stician to stick — more at stick , back
1. : any of numerous small fishes of the family Gasterosteidae that have two or more free spines in front of the dorsal fin and the ventral fins each reduced to one spine and a small ray, that are scaleless but often have the sides protected by bony plates, that occur in the northern hemisphere in brackish or fresh water or in the sea and are noted for their activity and vigor and for the curious nests which the males construct and guard during the breeding season, and that include the nine-spined stickleback and the two-spined or three-spined stickleback of both Europe and America and the fifteen-spined stickleback of Europe only as well-known forms
2. : a cleavers ( Galium aparine )