tentacle

tentacle

English

Etymology

From New Latin tentāculum, from tentō. Doublet of tentaculum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛntəkəl/, /ˈtɛntɨkəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

tentacle (plural tentacles)

1. An elongated, boneless, flexible organ or limb of some animals, such as the octopus and squid.
   • 1873, Jules Verne, “The “Devil Fish.”—Terrible Encounter.—Crushed to Death in the Arms of a Monster.—Ned Land saved by the Captain.—“Only Revenge”.”, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., OCLC 197673812, part II, page 274:

     With one blow of the axe, Captain Nemo cut this formidable tentacle, that slid wriggling down the ladder.

   • 1897, H. G. Wells, The Crystal Egg

     The body was small, but fitted with two bunches of prehensile organs, like long tentacles, immediately under the mouth.

   • 1936, H. P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out of Time

     Surmounting this head were four slender grey stalks bearing flower-like appendages, whilst from its nether side dangled eight greenish antennae or tentacles.

2. (botany) One of the glandular hairs on the leaves of certain insectivorous plants.
3. (figurative) An insidious reach or influence.

   the tentacles of the criminal underworld

4. (UK, military, historical) An officer employed to drive out to troops and transmit back requests for support via a special radio link.
   • 2013, Dr Ian Gooderson, Air Power at the Battlefront (page 26)

     A joint RAF/Army staffed Air Support Control (ASC) headquarters was established at each army corps and each armoured division, linked to the forward brigades by a 'tentacle' equipped with two-way wireless telegraphy.

Synonyms

• tentaculum

Derived terms

• tentacular

Translations

elongated, boneless, flexible appendage

Arabic: مِجَس‎ m (mijas), لامِس‎ m (lāmis) Belarusian: шчу́пальца n (ščúpalʹca) Bulgarian: пипа́ло (bg) n (pipálo) Catalan: tentacle (ca) m Cebuano: gaway Chinese: Mandarin: 觸手／触手 (zh) (chùshǒu) Czech: chapadlo (cs) n Dutch: tentakel (nl) m Finnish: lonkero (fi) French: tentacule (fr) m Galician: tentáculo m Georgian: საცეცი (saceci) German: Tentakel (de) m Greek: πλοκάμι (el) n (plokámi) Ancient: ὄστλιγξ f (óstlinx), πλεκτάνη f (plektánē) Higaonon: gaway Irish: adharcán m Italian: tentacolo (it) m Japanese: 触手 (しょくしゅ, shokushu) Korean: 촉수(觸手) (ko) (choksu) Latvian: tausteklis m Maltese: saba' m, seba' m Maori: kāwai, wekeweke, ngongotua, patapata Occitan: tentacul m Polish: macka (pl) f Portuguese: tentáculo (pt) m Romanian: tentacul (ro) n Russian: щу́пальце (ru) n (ščúpalʹce) Serbo-Croatian: pipak (sh) m, pipaljka f, пипак m, пипаљка f Slovak: chápadlo n Slovene: lovka f Spanish: tentáculo m Swedish: tentakel (sv) c Tagalog: galamay Turkish: dokunaç (tr), tentakül Ukrainian: щу́пальце n (ščúpalʹce)

glandular hairs on leaves

Bulgarian: жилка (bg) f (žilka) French: tentacule (fr) m

insidious reach or influence

French: tentacule (fr) m, pieuvre (fr) f Polish: macka (pl) f

Verb

tentacle (third-person singular simple present tentacles, present participle tentacling, simple past and past participle tentacled)

1. to move like a tentacle

Anagrams

• ectental, electant

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /tənˈta.klə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /tenˈta.kle/

Noun

tentacle m (plural tentacles)

1. tentacle

Related terms

• tentacular

Further reading

• “tentacle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “tentacle”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “tentacle” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tentacle” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.