From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinvertebratein‧ver‧te‧brate /ɪnˈvɜːtəbrət, -breɪt $ -ɜːr-/ noun [countable] HBa living creature that does not have a backbone → vertebrate► see thesaurus at animal —invertebrate adjective
Examples from the Corpus
invertebrate• In contrast to boiling it alive, freezing an invertebrate to death is a humane thing to do.• Amateur experimental breeding of Cleaner Shrimps has already been mentioned as a good example of a mobile invertebrate which could be chosen.