n.
Any of various small freshwater and marine fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, having erectile spines along the back.
[Middle English stikelbak : Old English sticel, prick + Middle English bak, back; see back1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
