A fossil is the hard remains of a prehistoric animal or plant that are found inside a rock.
Synonyms: fossilized remains, remains, petrified remains, impression More Synonyms of fossil
fossil in British English
(ˈfɒsəl)
noun
1.
a.
a relic, remnant, or representation of an organism that existed in a past geological age, or of the activity of such an organism, occurring in the form of mineralized bones, shells, etc, as casts, impressions, and moulds, and as frozen perfectly preserved organisms
b.
(as modifier)
fossil insects
2. informal, derogatory
a.
a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change
b.
(as modifier)
fossil politicians
3. linguistics
a form once current but now appearing only in one or two special contexts, as for example stead, which is found now only in instead (of) and in phrases like in my stead
4. obsolete
any rock or mineral dug out of the earth
Word origin
C17: from Latin fossilis dug up, from fodere to dig
fossil in American English
(ˈfɑsəl)
noun
1. Obsolete
any rock or mineral dug out of the earth
2.
any hardened remains or imprints of plant or animal life of some previous geologic period, preserved in the earth's crust, including petrified wood and various resins
3.
anything fossilized or like a fossil
4.
a person who is old-fashioned or has outmoded, fixed ideas
adjective
5.
of, having the nature of, or forming a fossil or fossils
6.
belonging to the past; unchanged by progress; antiquated
Word origin
Fr fossile < L fossilis, dug out, dug up < fossus, pp. of fodere, to dig up < IE *bhedh-, to dig in the earth > Welsh bedd, grave, OE bedd, bed
Examples of 'fossil' in a sentence
fossil
How and why whales got so big has remained a mystery until now, in part because of the challenges of interpreting an incomplete fossil record.
Smithsonian Insider (2017)
Unlike fossil fuel plants it is carbon neutral.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Sometimes new findings come from old fossils.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The aim is to make fossil fuel power environmentally friendly.
The Sun (2008)
They are taking a gamble on where they think the fossil fuel prices will be going.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
These reconstructions are based upon the physical clues that are preserved in the fossil record.
Christianity Today (2000)
Two factors contribute to the accumulation of such fossil remains.
Chapman, Philip Caves and Cave Life (1993)
These fossils show an animal that sits bang in the middle.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
They listed the large groups of fossil animals and plants that were then known.
Michael Boulter EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
The way in which fossil fuel prices change has been altered by technology.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The future cost of coal and gas for plants using fossil fuels can only be guessed at.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The last two had expected to be rescued from dependence on subsidies by rising fossil fuel prices.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
California has effectively outlawed the building of new fossil fuel plants.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We know it from the patterns that show up in our curves of evolution from the fossil record.
Michael Boulter EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
But we cannot answer the key questions about evolution without working towards a more geographically complete fossil record.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It is a revolution that will be led by green energy as it steadily replaces fossil fuels in powering the nation.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In it we interpret evolutionary patterns in the fossil record with the statistics and mathematics of complex systems and chaos theory.
Michael Boulter EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
But above all it was dependent upon his having studied both rock formations and fossils intensively, in situ.
Lisa Jardine THE CURIOUS LIFE OF ROBERT HOOKE: The Man who Measured London (2003)
African remains are real fossils.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
One way to reduce consumption is for the government to raise the price of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal.
Miller, Roger LeRoy & Fishe, Raymond P. H. Microeconomics: Price Theory in Practice (1995)
Last week it was named as the missing link between fi sh and land animals after its fossil was found in the Canadian arctic.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
We know what the landscape of western Scotland and Ireland was like from the fossil remains that make up the underlying peat.
Michael Boulter EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
In other languages
fossil
British English: fossil NOUN
A fossil is the hard remains of a prehistoric animal or plant that are found inside a rock.
American English: fossil
Brazilian Portuguese: fóssil
Chinese: 化石
European Spanish: fósil
French: fossile
German: Fossil
Italian: fossile ()
Japanese: 化石
Korean: 화석
European Portuguese: fóssil
Latin American Spanish: fósil
All related terms of 'fossil'
fossil fuel
Fossil fuel is fuel such as coal or oil that is formed from the decayed remains of plants or animals.
zone fossil
a fossil species that characterizes and is used to delimit a geological zone
fossil energy
heat energy released by burning fossil fuel
index fossil
a fossil species that characterizes and is used to delimit a geological zone
living fossil
an animal or plant, such as the coelacanth and ginkgo , belonging to a group most of whose members are extinct
trace fossil
the fossilized remains of a track, trail , footprint , burrow , etc, of an organism
derived fossil
a fossil eroded from sediment and redeposited in younger sediment
reworked fossil
a fossil eroded from sediment and redeposited in younger sediment
Chinese translation of 'fossil'
fossil
(ˈfɔsl)
n(c)
化石 (huàshí) (块(塊), kuài)
(noun)
Definition
remains of a plant or animal that existed in a past geological age, occurring in the form of mineralized bones, shells, etc.