Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Vertebrate \Ver"te*brate\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
   One of the Vertebrata.

Vertebrate \Ver"te*brate\, Vertebrated \Ver"te*bra`ted\, a. [L.
   vertebratus.]
   1. (Anat.) Having a backbone, or vertebral column, containing
      the spinal marrow, as man, quadrupeds, birds, amphibia,
      and fishes.

   2. (Bot.) Contracted at intervals, so as to resemble the
      spine in animals. --Henslow.

   3. (Zo["o]l.) Having movable joints resembling vertebr[ae];
      -- said of the arms ophiurans.

   4. (Zo["o]l.) Of or pertaining to the Vertebrata; -- used
      only in the form vertebrate.

Source : WordNet®

vertebrate
     adj : having a backbone or spinal column; "fishes and amphibians
           and reptiles and birds and mammals are verbetrate
           animals" [ant: {invertebrate}]

vertebrate
     n : animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a
         segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a
         skull or cranium [syn: {craniate}]