1. the paired jaws or jaw-like mouthparts of insects, crustaceans, and other arthropods used for biting and chewing
Usage: biology; zoology
2. the lower jaw or jawbone in vertebrates
Usage: anatomy

Examples

• The beetle’s powerful mandibles can crush through wood.
• Ants use their mandibles to carry food back to the colony.
• The crab’s mandibles clicked as it fed on the algae.
• The fossil showed well-preserved mandibles from an ancient mammal.
• Termite soldiers have enlarged mandibles for defending the nest.
• The surgeon examined the fractured mandibles on the X-ray.