tentacle

noun

ten·​ta·​cle ˈten-ti-kəl 

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

ˈten-ti-kəld 

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

And some of us understand that rock has so many tentacles to blues and to church. —Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024

Read Next Florida Glowing sea creature with 15 tentacles found off Florida coast. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024

As tentacles explode out of mouths and a chicken bursts through a man's chest, things reach a boiling point. —Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 4 May 2024

Advertisement Unlike their fellow hydrozoa, the Portuguese man o’ war, the toxin in their tentacles isn’t strong enough to injure humans. —Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024

Its tentacles reach some of the world’s largest companies, from Apple to LVMH and Nestlé, totaling nearly 9,000 companies worldwide. —Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 11 Apr. 2024

In the clip, the mimic octopus impersonates one of these creatures, turning his tentacles into snake-like appendages that are the same colors as a sea krait. —Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024

Read Next Deep-sea creature — with yellowy tentacles and over 80 feet — is new species. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024

These clones work in unison, presenting a shaggy appearance and deploying a curtain of tentacles to capture a diverse range of prey, from crustaceans to small fish. —Anna Nordseth, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024

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

Kids Definition

tentacle

noun

ten·​ta·​cle ˈtent-i-kəl 

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

-kəld 

adjective

Medical Definition

tentacle

noun

ten·​ta·​cle ˈtent-i-kəl 

: 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