clasper

1 definition found

clasper - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Clasper \Clasp"er\ (kl[.a]sp"[~e]r), n.
     1. One who, or that which, clasps, as a tendril. "The
        claspers of vines." --Derham.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.)
        (a) One of a pair of organs used by the male for grasping
            the female among many of the Crustacea.
        (b) One of a pair of male copulatory organs, developed on
            the anterior side of the ventral fins of sharks and
            other elasmobranchs. See Illust. of Chim[ae]ra.
            [1913 Webster]