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tendril

 [ten-dril]   Example Sentences Origin

ten·dril

   [ten-dril]
noun Botany.
a threadlike, leafless organ of climbing plants, often growing in spiral form, which attaches itself to or twines round some other body, so as to support the plant.
Origin:
1530–40; earlier tendrel, variant (perhaps by dissimilation) of Middle English tendren, tendron < Middle French tendron shoot, sprout, cartilage

Related forms
ten·dril·lar, ten·dril·ous, adjective
ten·dril·ly, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Tendril is always a great word to know.
So is naked seed. Does it mean:
male reproductive structure which produces gametes in ferns, mosses, fungi and algae
ovules which are unenclosed, forming on cones or stalks
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Example Sentences
  • The pretty little girls have tendril curls and wear deep-brimmed hats.
  • It reacts to too much shade by sending out a tendril toward whatever light it can find.
  • The phosphoric tendril of its track grows menacingly up and across the gridded map.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
tendril (ˈtɛndrɪl)
 
—n
1.  a specialized threadlike part of a leaf or stem that attaches climbing plants to a support by twining or adhering
2.  something resembling a tendril, such as a wisp of hair
 
[C16: perhaps from Old French tendron tendril (confused with Old French tendron bud), from Medieval Latin tendōtendon]
 
'tendrillar
 
—adj
 
'tendrilous
 
—adj

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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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tendril
1538, from M.Fr. tendrillon "bud, shoot, cartilage," perhaps a dim. of tendron "cartilage," from O.Fr. tendre "soft" (see tender (adj.)), or else from L. tendere "to stretch, extend" (see tender (v.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
tendril   (těn'drəl)  Pronunciation Key 
A slender, coiling plant part, often a modified leaf or leaf part, that helps support the stem of some climbing angiosperms by clinging to or winding around an object. Peas, squash, and grapes produce tendrils.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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