pricklebackn.
/ˈprɪklbak/, U.S. /ˈprɪk(ə)lˌbæk/ 1. The three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Cf. prickling n.2, prickly-back n. (a) at prickly adj. Compounds 2, pricky-back n. (b) at pricky adj. Compounds. Now rare.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Gasterosteiformes (sticklebacks) > [noun] > family Gasterosteidae > species aculeatus (three-spined stickleback)
banstickle1483
prickleback1747
three-spined stickleback1769
prickly-back1862
pricky-back1864
1747 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 44 424 Observations made on the Bansticle, or Pricklebag, alias Prickle-back.
1787 T. Best Conc. Treat. Angling (ed. 2) 4 The Common Prickle Back, Sharpling, or Banstickle.
1843 G. P. R. James Forest Days I. i. 5 A little rivulet, full of pricklebacks.
1860 Harper's Mag. Mar. 488/2 Did you ever, when you were a boy, catch a little fish that goes by the names of Stickleback, Prickleback, Robins, Banstickle, Sharplin, Tittleback, and a few others?
1925 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 124 There are numerous local names for this fish, such as Jack Sharp, Prickleback, [etc.].
2. Any of various marine fishes of the family Stichaeidae, occurring chiefly in the North Pacific, having a long slender body and a long dorsal fin composed entirely of spinous rays.
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1960 List Common & Sci. Names Fishes U.S. & Canada (Amer. Fisheries Soc. Special Publ. No. 2) (ed. 2) 44 Ribbon prickleback... Phitychthys chirus... Black prickleback... Xiphister mucosus.
1988 Sci. Amer. Jan. 54/2 Very thin bodies (in the gunnels and pricklebacks).
2003 San Mateo County Times (San Mateo, Calif.) (Nexis) 27 June Hermit crabs, black turban snails, and miniature eel-like pricklebacks crawl and cling in their watery world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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