Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun, plural che·lic·er·ae [kuh–lis–uh-ree] /kəˈlɪs əˌri/.
- one member of the first pair of usually pincerlike appendages of spiders and other arachnids.
noun plural -erae (-əˌriː)
- one of a pair of appendages on the head of spiders and other arachnids: often modified as food-catching claws
1831, plural of Modern Latin chelicera, from Greek khele “claw, talon, cloven hoof,” from PIE *ghel-wo-, from root *ghel-una- “jaw,” + keras “horn” (see kerato-). Earlier chelicer (1835), from French chélicère.