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Webster 1913 Edition
Cartilaginous
Carˊti-lag′i-nous
,Adj.
[L.
cartilaginosus
: cf. F. cartilagineux
.] 1.
Of or pertaining to cartilage; gristly; firm and tough like cartilage.
2.
(Zool.)
Having the skeleton in the state of cartilage, the bones containing little or no calcareous matter; said of certain fishes, as the sturgeon and the sharks.
Webster 1828 Edition
Cartilaginous
CARTILAGINOUS
,Adj.
1.
Pertaining to or resembling a cartilage; gristly; consisting of cartilage.2.
In ichthyology, cartilaginous fishes are those whose muscles are supported by cartilages instead of bones, or whose skeleton is cartilaginous. Many of these are viviparous, as the ray and shark, whose young are excluded from an egg hatched within them. Others are oviparous, as the sturgeon. Some of them have no gill-covers, but breathe through apertures, on the sides of the neck or top of the head; others have gill-covers, but destitute of bony rays.