Word Meaning

Meaning of operculum

- The lid of a pitcherform leaf.
- The lid of the urnlike capsule of mosses.
- Any lidlike or operculiform process or part; as, the opercula of a dental follicle.
- 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.
- The principal opercular bone in the upper and posterior part of the gill cover.
- The lid closing the aperture of various species of shells, as the common whelk. See Illust. of Gastropoda.
- Any lid-shaped structure closing the aperture of a tube or shell.