Main Entry:

ten·ta·cle

Pronunciation:

\ˈten-ti-kəl\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

New Latin tentaculum, from Latin tentare to feel, touch — more at tempt

Date:

circa 1762

1: any of various elongate flexible usually tactile or prehensile processes borne by animals and especially invertebrates chiefly on the head or about the mouth2 a: something that resembles a tentacle especially in or as if in grasping or feeling out <corruption spreading its tentacles> b: a sensitive hair or emergence on a plant (as the sundew)

— ten·ta·cled \-kəld\ adjective