noun · neutral
fossil
UK/ˈfɒsəl/US/ˈfɑːsəl/FOS·sil
Band 6-7speakingtask2
the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, or other organisms from the remote past
Examples
“They displayed a fossil of a prehistoric fish at the museum.”
“Paleontologists found several well‑preserved fossils in the rock layer.”
“Fossils help scientists reconstruct ancient environments.”
Band 8 sentence
“Recent digs have produced unusually complete fossils that change how we think about early marine life.”
Collocations
- fossil fuel
- fossil record
- fossilized remains
Word family
fossilize verbfossilized adjectivefossils noun (plural)
Common mistakes
many fossil→many fossils
a fossil fuels→fossil fuels
Say it for a higher band
5old→6ancient→7+fossil
Synonyms
remains
Easily confused
remains
“The archaeologists studied the remains carefully.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Environment & Climate
Learn it with its set