fossil

/ˈfɑsəl/

/ˈfɒsəl/

Other forms: fossils

Fossils are the really, really old remains of a plant or animal — so old they've turned to stone. Fossil is also an insult for an old or old-fashioned person.

Fossils are very important to scientists who study animals: they're one of the ways we learn about the beasts and critters of the past. A fossil is an imprint of the bones of that animal in rock or stone. If you see a reconstruction of a dinosaur in a museum, scientists used fossils to figure out how it should look. Also, calling someone a fossil is like calling them a geezer or old fogey. It's not a compliment.

Definitions of fossil

1. noun

   the remains (or an impression) of a plant or animal that existed in a past geological age and that has been excavated from the soil
   types:

   fucoid

   a fossilized cast or impression of algae of the order Fucales

   belemnite

   a conical calcareous fossil tapering to a point at one end and with a conical cavity at the other end containing (when unbroken) a small chambered phragmocone from the shell of any of numerous extinct cephalopods of the family Belemnitidae

   ammonite, ammonoid

   an extinct marine mollusk with a coiled, chambered shell or the shell itself

   guide fossil, index fossil

   a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found

   microfossil

   the remains or impression of a plant or animal from a past geological age, so tiny that it must be studied with a microscope

   wormcast

   fossil trail of a worm

   type of:

   remains

   any object that is left unused or still extant
2. adjective

   characteristic of a fossil
3. noun

   someone whose style is out of fashion
   synonyms: dodo, fogey, fogy

   type of:

   golden ager, old person, oldster, senior citizen

   an elderly person