Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows.


Noun: vertebrate  'vurtu`breyt
  1. Animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium
    - craniate
Adjective: vertebrate  'vurtu`breyt
  1. Having a backbone or spinal column
    "fishes and amphibians and reptiles and birds and mammals are vertebrate animals"

Derived forms: vertebrates

Type of: chordate

Antonym: invertebrate

Part of: Craniata, subphylum Craniata, subphylum Vertebrata, Vertebrata

Encyclopedia: Vertebrate