Meanings
nounradula (plural radulae)
plural radulae
- biologyThe rasping tongue of snails and all other mollusks except bivalves.
What Kruta found in the ammonoid fossils was an unfoldable radula covered with delicate, comblike teeth.
2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 981 more example
The radula end containing the first 5–10 rows of teeth showed evidence of wear from rasping over rock surfaces during feeding and was removed using dissection.
2015 February 18, Asa H. Barber, Dun Lu, Nicola M. Pugno, “Extreme strength observed in limpet teeth”, in Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Origin
- Latinrādula
- Latinrādula
- Englishradula
Borrowed from Latin rādula (“scraper”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish raastinkieli, radula
- raastinkielithe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
- radulathe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Icelandic skráptunga
- skráptungathe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Māori hākuku
- hākukuthe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Polish tarka
- tarkathe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Portuguese rádula
- rádulathe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Russian ра́дула, тёрка
- ра́дула (rádula)the rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
- тёрка (tjórka)the rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Welsh radwla
- radwlathe rasping tongue of snails and most other molluscs
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
radula. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/radula
MLA
“radula.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/radula. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “radula,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/radula.
Source: radula on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.