tentacle

noun

ten·​ta·​cle ˈten-ti-kəl How to pronounce tentacle (audio)
1
: any of various elongate flexible usually tactile or prehensile processes borne by invertebrate animals chiefly on the head or about the mouth
2
: something that resembles a tentacle especially in or as if in grasping or feeling out
corruption spreading its tentacles
3
: a sensitive hair or emergence on a plant (such as the sundew)
tentacled adjective

Examples of tentacle in a Sentence

The corporation's tentacles are felt in every sector of the industry. the tentacles of organized crime
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The monster could move around the stage, and other dancers acted as her tentacles. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 1 Nov. 2024 By the late 20th century, the world economic system and its cultural tentacles had advanced a rationalist commercial logic that increasingly shunned art and beauty for their own sake. Brandon Sanchez, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024 The tentacles are used too often and too stagnantly. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 31 Oct. 2024 Let There Be Carnage memorably had Eddie and Venom’s many tentacles trying—and largely failing—to make breakfast. James Grebey, TIME, 25 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for tentacle 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin tentāculum, from Latin temptāre, tentāre "to feel, test, examine" + -culum, suffix of instrument (going back to Indo-European *-tlom) — more at tempt

Note: The Latin word was used by linnaeus in the second edition (1740) of Systema naturae and may have been coined by him.

First Known Use

circa 1762, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of tentacle was circa 1762

Dictionary Entries Near tentacle

Cite this Entry

“Tentacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tentacle. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

tentacle

noun
ten·​ta·​cle ˈtent-i-kəl How to pronounce tentacle (audio)
1
: any of various long flexible structures that stick out usually around the head or mouth of an animal (as a jellyfish or sea anemone) and are used especially for feeling or grasping
2
a
: something that resembles a tentacle especially in or as if in grasping or feeling out
b
: a sensitive hair on a plant
tentacled adjective

Medical Definition

tentacle

noun
ten·​ta·​cle ˈtent-i-kəl How to pronounce tentacle (audio)
: any of various elongate flexible usually tactile or prehensile processes borne by animals chiefly on the head or about the mouth
especially : one of the threadlike processes bearing nematocysts that hang down from the margin of the umbrella of many jellyfishes

More from Merriam-Webster on tentacle

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