backboneless

Worms are invertebral animals; in other words, they are backboneless, but nevertheless some of them -- for example the prickly caterpillars -- are full of spines.

Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 16, July 16, 1870 Various

Such was my backboneless state that for some seconds I remained where I was, half disposed to let things slide, accept the good the gods had sent me, and make a night of it just there.

The Beetle Richard Marsh

The world wants a Church Militant, not a backboneless intellectualism.

What the Church Means to Me A Frank Confession and a Friendly Estimate by an Insider Wilfred T. Grenfell

God would not permit a backboneless king to reign over His people.

Stories of the Prophets (Before the Exile) Isaac Landman

Something backboneless and underhand of that kind would not have surprised him in the least.

The Gold Bat 1928

Something backboneless and underhand of that kind would not have surprised him in the least.

The Gold Bat 1928

Something backboneless and underhand of that kind would not have surprised him in the least.

The Gold Bat 1928

You could no more think of striking that weak, backboneless poltroon than of hitting a six months 'old baby.

On the Fringe of the Great Fight 1921

The upper part of the body, limp, backboneless, and awry, half propped up against the wall, half falling back upon the outstretched arms, told quite plainly its weird tale of death.

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard 1912

But Wagner was not the man to be hindered, and if these backboneless crawling things made life at Munich so loathsome to him that he sought peace to complete his work at Triebschen, near Lucerne, nevertheless his plans were carried out.

Wagner Runciman, John F 1913