n. Any of the genus Gymnotus of electric knifefishes.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A genus of South American fresh-water fishes, including the Gymnotus electricus, or electric eel. It has a greenish, eel-like body, and is possessed of electric power.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A genus of fishes.
n. A fish of the genus Gymnotus.
n. In entomology, a genus of curculios, based on the Brazilian G. geometricus, the Cholus geometricus of Germar.
Word Usage
"It is well known that the gymnotus is a kind of eel, with a blackish, slimy skin, furnished along the back and tail with an apparatus composed of plates joined by vertical lamellæ, and acted on by nerves of considerable power."