Search Result for "elytron": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings;
[syn: wing case, elytron]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Elytron \El"y*tron\ (?; 277), Elytrum \El"y*trum\ (-tr?m)n.; pl. Elytra. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to roll round.] (Zo["o]l.) (a) One of the anterior pair of wings in the Coleoptera and some other insects, when they are thick and serve only as a protection for the posterior pair. See Coleoptera. (b) One of the shieldlike dorsal scales of certain annelids. See Ch[ae]topoda. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

elytron n 1: either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings [syn: wing case, elytron]