tridactyl

The bird's tridactyl foot left a distinct three-toed print in the soft mud.

Definition

Adjective: Having three digits (fingers or toes) on one limb.

Usage Examples

• (The bird's footprints showed three toes.)
• (The dinosaurs had three toes on each back foot.)
• (Having three digits is typical for some lizard species.)

Advanced Usage

• "tridactyl foot": a foot with three distinct digits, often used in paleontology to describe fossil tracks.
  • The fossilized tridactyl foot suggests the dinosaur was a theropod. (The three-toed fossil print indicates a meat-eating dinosaur.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tridactylous (adj): an alternative spelling or form of "tridactyl," meaning having three digits.
  • The tridactylous bird is adapted for perching. (The bird with three toes is suited for perching.)

Synonyms

• Three-toed: having three toes on each foot (common in zoology).
• Tri-digit: having three digits (less common but synonymous).

Antonyms

• Didactyl: having two digits on each limb.
• Tetradactyl: having four digits on each limb.

Related Idioms

No common idioms exist for this technical term.