| 释义 |
ˈtooth-shell
The long tubular shell, in shape like a tooth or tusk, of any gastropod mollusc of Dentalium or other allied genus; also the mollusc itself. b. false tooth-shell, the similar shell (or animal) of the molluscous genus Cæca, or the family Cæcidæ. c. ‘In Australia, the shell of Marinula pellucida, a small marine mollusc used for necklaces’ (Morris Austral Eng.).
c1711Petiver Gazophyl. vii. 65 Small English Tooth-shell... It's smooth, white, and somewhat crooked with purplish Tips. 1777Pennant Zool. IV. 127 Dentalium, tooth-shell. 1850Miss Pratt Comm. Things Sea-side v. 314 The old shell of the mollusk, commonly called Tooth-shell (Dentalium entalis),..so common on our coasts, shaped like a small horn. 1879E. P. Wright Anim. Life 548 The Tooth-shells are animal feeders, devouring foraminifera and minute bivalves. |