TENTACLE

tentacle

(noun) any of various elongated tactile or prehensile flexible organs that occur on the head or near the mouth in many animals; used for feeling or grasping or locomotion

tentacle

(noun) something that acts like a tentacle in its ability to grasp and hold; “caught in the tentacles of organized crime”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

tentacle (plural tentacles)

An elongated, boneless, flexible organ or limb of some animals, such as the octopus and squid.

(botany) One of the glandular hairs on the leaves of certain insectivorous plants.

(figurative) An insidious reach or influence.

Anagrams

• ectental, electant

Source: Wiktionary

Ten"ta*cle, n. Etym: [NL. tentaculum, from L. tentare to handle, feel: cf. F. tentacule. See Tempt.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: A more or less elongated process or organ, simple or branched, proceeding from the head or cephalic region of invertebrate animals, being either an organ of sense, prehension, or motion. Tentacle sheath (Zoöl.), a sheathlike structure around the base of the tentacles of many mollusks.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition