noun
one of a series of slit openings in the pharynxes of fishes and aquatic amphibians through which water passes
• Syn: ↑branchial cleft, ↑gill cleft
• Hypernyms: ↑structure, ↑anatomical structure, ↑complex body part, ↑bodily structure, ↑body structure
* * *
noun1. : branchial cleft
2. : the external opening of the gill cavity when a gill cover is present
* * *
/gil/.
See branchial cleft.
[1850-55]
* * *
gill slit,
= gill cleft. (Cf. ↑gill cleft)
* * *
[gil]n.
1) any of a series of openings between the gill arches of a fish, through which water passes from the pharynx to the exterior, bathing the gills in the process
2) any of a similar set of grooves found in embryos of higher vertebrates
Useful english dictionary. 2012.