Found 2 items, similar to Operculum.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: operculum operculum n : a hard flap serving as a cover for (a) the gill slits in fishes or (b) the opening of the shell in certain gastropods when the body is retracted [also: opercula (pl)]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Operculum Operculum \O*per"cu*lum\, n.; pl. L. Opercula, E. Operculums. [L., a cover or lid, fr. operire to cover.] 1. (Bot.) (a) The lid of a pitcherform leaf. (b) The lid of the urnlike capsule of mosses. [1913 Webster] 2. (Anat.) (a) Any lidlike or operculiform process or part; as, the opercula of a dental follicle. (b) The fold of integument, usually supported by bony plates, which protects the gills of most fishes and some amphibians; the gill cover; the gill lid. (c) The principal opercular bone in the upper and posterior part of the gill cover. [1913 Webster] 3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The lid closing the aperture of various species of shells, as the common whelk. See Illust. of Gastropoda. (b) Any lid-shaped structure closing the aperture of a tube or shell. [1913 Webster]