tendril

noun ten·dril \ ˈten-drəl \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Definition of tendril

1 : a leaf, stipule, or stem modified into a slender spirally coiling sensitive organ serving to attach a climbing plant to its support

2 : something suggestive of a tendril

creeping tendrils of fog

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tendriled

or tendrilled play \ˈten-drəld\ adjective

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tendrilous

play \ˈten-drə-ləs\ adjective

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Examples of tendril in a Sentence

A few tendrils of hair framed her face.

Recent Examples of tendril from the Web

The fruit has a neon pink skin festooned with yellow tendrils that hide a stark white or magenta interior peppered with tiny, unobtrusive seeds.

— paul stephen, San Antonio Express-News, "Your guide to your store’s funky fruits: What’s good, how to eat them," 13 June 2018
But Farber illustrates a far more disturbing reality: the legacy of colonialism extends its toxic tendrils so deeply into every social structure that it can't be excised by legislative decree.

— justin hayford, Chicago Reader, "Mies Julie depicts a postapartheid South Africa still mired in its legacy of colonialism and racism," 6 June 2018
Every menu has a crudo these days; here it’s madai, topped with circles of daikon radish dipped in powdered chile, and tendrils of sea beans.

— phil vettel, chicagotribune.com, "Tied House review: Chef Debbie Gold shines in return to Chicago's dining scene," 27 Apr. 2018
Pea shoots are the stem, top leaves and delicate, curly threadlike tendrils of the green pea plant used for climbing.

— claire perez, Sun-Sentinel.com, "What are pea tendrils and how to use them," 20 Apr. 2018
Bub and Grandma’s focaccia comes capped with burrata and blistered Sun Gold tomatoes; seared striped bass with beurre blanc nestles in a bed of crisp pea tendrils.

— garrett snyder, Los Angeles Magazine, "3 New L.A. Restaurants You Have to Try This June," 31 May 2018
But all these tendrils of touristic desire, every tweet, can reach through a neighborhood and break up its residential life.

— anne gisleson, Curbed, "Bywater faces its future," 23 May 2018
Its tendrils of influence crept into the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Japanese internment camps, and the responses to the AIDS epidemic, and helped to lay the groundwork for the current mass incarceration crisis.

— kim kelly, The New Republic, "A Forgotten War on Women," 22 May 2018
The singer/actress threw it way back this Thursday with a photo of herself from 1999 going for a particularly interesting look featuring the '90s trifecta: zig-zag part, peacock tendrils, and hair crystals.

— melissa minton, Allure, "Mandy Moore Had the Most '90s Hairstyle Ever," 3 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tendril.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of tendril

Origin and Etymology of tendril

probably modification of Middle French tendron bud, cartilage, alteration of Old French tenrum, from Vulgar Latin *tenerumen, from Latin tener tender — more at ¹tender

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1538

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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