any remains, impression, or trace of a living thing of a former geologic age, as a skeleton, footprint, etc.
a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.
a linguistic form that is archaic except in certain restricted contexts, as nonce in for the nonce, or that follows a rule or pattern that is no longer productive, as the sentence So be it.
adjective
of the nature of a fossil: fossil insects.
belonging to a past epoch or discarded system; antiquated: a fossil approach to economics.
Origin of fossil
1555–65; <Latin fossilis dug up (Cf. fodere to dig); replacing earlier fossile<French
Similar blackouts many years ago lead the state to transition away from fossil fuels like natural gas to renewable energy.
Environment Report: Real Estate Sellers Aren’t Required to Disclose Sea Level Rise Risk|MacKenzie Elmer|August 24, 2020|Voice of San Diego
The amount of sea level rise depends roughly on how much fossil fuels humans burn in the coming decades causing global temperatures to spike, which eventually leads to the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic and swelling of the oceans.
Nobody’s Talking About the Sports Arena Flood Zone|MacKenzie Elmer|August 19, 2020|Voice of San Diego
We know them from the fossils, footprints and tools they left behind.
Let’s learn about early humans|Bethany Brookshire|August 19, 2020|Science News For Students
The energy transition is not only about using green fuels instead of fossil fuels, and then it’s over.
Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal? (Ep. 429)|Stephen J. Dubner|August 13, 2020|Freakonomics
These agreements offer an opportunity to push traditional and mostly fossil fuel-based power companies toward more renewable energy and could help slow the warming of the planet.
Environment Report: One Way to Force Companies to Emit Less Carbon|MacKenzie Elmer|August 10, 2020|Voice of San Diego
And given the current glut in fossil fuels, it might even be a better economic bet to wait a few years.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They believe that companies trafficking in fossil fuels will eventually face financial problems.
Why the Rockefellers Rejected Big Oil|Tim Mak|September 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Under Mongolian law, any fossil specimen found in the Gobi Desert must stay in the possession of a Mongolian institution.
Stopping the Million-Dollar Fossil Thieves: Illegal Trade Meets World of Insatiable Research|Scott Bixby|June 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But when it comes to energy, divestment from coal or fossil fuels is much more symbolic—and not very meaningful.
Why Stanford Should Keep Its Coal Stocks|Daniel Gross|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Divestment may an appealing short-term action for people concerned with the effects of coal and fossil fuels on the environment.
Why Stanford Should Keep Its Coal Stocks|Daniel Gross|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That its distinction is justifiable appears to be shown by the discovery in the same region of a fossil species, L. luganensis.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard
It has been variously supposed to be a vegetable gum, a fossil, and an animal product.
The Reason Why|Anonymous
Slieve League is capped by the remnants of outlying beds of lower carboniferous age, conglomerates, with fossil plant remains.
Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II|W. P. Haskett Smith
I shall write next from the fossil locality, which is said to be about forty miles from this.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and The|William Griffith
In one of the many ravines examined, sandstone strata were discovered, in one of which there was a narrow seam of fossil plants.
The Romance of Polar Exploration|G. Firth Scott
British Dictionary definitions for fossil
fossil
/ (ˈfɒsəl) /
noun
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
(as modifier)fossil insects
informal, derogatory
a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change
(as modifier)fossil politicians
linguisticsa 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 his stead
obsoleteany rock or mineral dug out of the earth
Word Origin for fossil
C17: from Latin fossilis dug up, from fodere to dig
The evidence in rock of the presence of a plant or an animal from an earlier geological period. Fossils are formed when minerals in groundwater replace materials in bones and tissue, creating a replica in stone of the original organism or of their tracks. The study of fossils is the domain of paleontology. The oldest fossils (of bacteria) are 3.8 billion years old.
notes for fossil
The term is used figuratively to refer to a person with very old-fashioned or outmoded viewpoints: “That old fossil thinks that men should wear suits at the theater!”
The remains or imprint of an organism from a previous geologic time. A fossil can consist of the preserved tissues of an organism, as when encased in amber, ice, or pitch, or more commonly of the hardened relic of such tissues, as when organic matter is replaced by dissolved minerals. Hardened fossils are often found in layers of sedimentary rock and along the beds of rivers that flow through them. See also index fossilmicrofossiltrace fossil.