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barbicel

American  
[bahr-buh-sel] / ˈbɑr bəˌsɛl /

noun

Ornithology.

  1. one of the minute processes fringing the barbules of certain feathers.

barbicel British  
/ ˈbɑːbɪˌsɛl /

noun

  1. ornithol any of the minute hooks on the barbules of feathers that interlock with those of adjacent barbules

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of barbicel

1865–70; < New Latin barbicella, equivalent to Latin barbi- (combining form of barba beard) + -cella diminutive suffix

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.