Meanings
noun
- A love dart
On the one hand, there’s the slug, who comes equipped with a gypsobelum, or “love dart,” that it fires, like a “hormone-slick porcupine quill to subdue the object of its desire.”
2015 October 9, Emily Eakin, “Bonnie Jo Campbell’s ‘Mothers, Tell Your Daughters’”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Origin
Coined by British malacologist John W. Taylor ca. 1900, from γύψος (gúpsos, “lime”) + βέλος (bélos, “dart”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
gypsobelum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gypsobelum
MLA
“gypsobelum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gypsobelum. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gypsobelum,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gypsobelum.
Source: gypsobelum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.