Nearby Words
noun
1.
a breathing hole; an opening by which a confined space has communication with the outer air; air hole.
2.
Zoology.
a.
an aperture or orifice through which air or water passes in the act of respiration, as the blowhole of a cetacean.
b.
an opening in the head of sharks and rays through which water is drawn and passed over gills.
c.
one of the external orifices of the tracheal respiratory system of certain invertebrates, usually on the sides of the body.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English < Latin spīrāculum air hole, equivalent to spīrā(re) to breathe + -culum -cle2
1300–50; Middle English < Latin spīrāculum air hole, equivalent to spīrā(re) to breathe + -culum -cle2
Related forms
pre·spi·rac·u·lar, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Spiracle
is always a great word to know.
So is platyhelminthes. Does it mean:
| phylum of worms with bilateral symmetry and soft, usually flattened bodies |
| phylum comprised of mollusks |
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
spiracle  (spĭr'ə-kəl, spī'rə-) Pronunciation Key
An opening through which certain animals breathe, such as the blowhole of a whale or one of the openings in the exoskeleton of an insect. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
spiracle
in arthropods, the small external opening of a trachea (respiratory tube) or a book lung (breathing organ with thin folds of membrane resembling book leaves). Spiracles are usually found on certain thoracic and abdominal segments. In elasmobranch and ganoid fishes a pair of spiracles, derived from the gills, is used as a water passageway during respiration. The nasal opening of whales and other cetaceans is called a spiracle, as is the respiratory opening behind the eyes of rays and skates. In tadpoles the spiracle is the excurrent opening from the gill chamber
Learn more about spiracle with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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