Definition of: vertebrate

(vûr′tə·brāt, -brit) adjective
1. Having a backbone or spinal column.
2. Pertaining to or characteristic of vertebrates.
3. Vertebral.
—noun Any of a primary division or sub-phylum (Vertebrata) of animals, of the phylum Chordata, characterized by a spinal column, as fishes, birds, mammals, and a few primitive forms in which a notochord represents the backbone. [<L vertebratus jointed <vertebra VERTEBRA]