appendage
noun
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The Root of Appendage
Appendix isn't the only noun that comes from append. Unlike appendix, appendage doesn't suggest the end of something, but simply something attached. The word is often used in biology to refer to parts of an animal's body: an insect's antennae, mouthparts, or wings, for example. The appendages of some animals will grow back after they've been removed; a salamander, for example, can regrow a finger, and the tiny sea squirt can regrow all its appendages—and even its brain.
Synonyms
Examples of appendage in a Sentence
Tom Roland, Billboard, 29 Mar. 2024
These odd appendages certainly didn’t allow the dinosaurs to fly, and their tiny size hardly seemed to offer any utility.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Jan. 2024
This appendage will detach from the main body and swim away, carrying gonads that will merge with those from other disembodied rear ends and give rise to a new generation.
—Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023
Some say the tiny, seemingly useless appendages, which may have been too small to accomplish anything, might have been well adapted to give other dinosaurs a good slashing from a short distance.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 27 Feb. 2024
The appendage is now in the hands of the medical examiner, who will work to identify the owner of the body part, according to WNBC.
—Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 20 Feb. 2024
The retired physics professor was sitting in an emergency room in Whitehorse, the capital of Canada’s Yukon territory, where two doctors and a pharmacist were taking an unusual amount of interest in the appendage and the pink blisters that now covered it.
—Jason Mast, STAT, 16 Feb. 2024
With the rise of the ruling United Russia party, the remaining major parties—the Communist Party and Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s populist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia—became appendages of the Kremlin.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 7 Mar. 2024
Some, like whales, use the appendage for swimming, while others, like horses, use them to keep away flies.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'appendage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near appendage
Cite this Entry
“Appendage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appendage. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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appendage
noun
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appendage
noun
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