earless

/'iəlis/

Thân thiện

An earless seal rests on a rocky coastline.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lacking external ears: Describes an animal or organism that does not have visible or projecting external ear structures (pinnae).
   • Lacking handles or lugs: In a more general or archaic sense, can describe an object, such as a vessel, that lacks handles or projections resembling ears.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The earless seal is well-adapted to aquatic life. (This describes a type of seal that lacks visible external ears.)
  • The museum displayed an ancient, earless urn. (This describes a vessel without handles.)

Advanced Usage

• Scientific/Technical Context: Used primarily in zoological descriptions to classify species, such as "earless seals" (family Phocidae) versus "eared seals" (family Otariidae).
  • Biologists studied the hearing mechanisms of earless mammals.

Variants and Related Words

• Earlessness (noun): The state or condition of being earless.
  • The earlessness of the species is a key identifying feature.

Synonyms

• Auricle-less: Lacking auricles (the external part of the ear).
• Handleless: Lacking handles (for the object-related sense).

Antonyms

• Eared: Having ears or ear-like projections.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. lacking external ears
   • earless seals