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• dead-man's fingers
  dead-man's fingers

  noun

  any of various fungi, sponges, plant roots, animal parts, etc., having fingerlike projections and a pale or dull color, as the gray-black woodland fungus Xylaria polymorpha or the whitish spongy gills of a food crab.
• dead man's fingers
  dead man's fingers

  noun

  (functioning as singular) a soft coral, Alcyonium digitatum, with long finger-like polyps

dead-man's fingers

American  

[ded-manz, -muhnz] / ˈdɛdˌmænz, -mənz /

noun

1. any of various fungi, sponges, plant roots, animal parts, etc., having fingerlike projections and a pale or dull color, as the gray-black woodland fungus Xylaria polymorpha or the whitish spongy gills of a food crab.

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dead man's fingers British  

noun

1. (functioning as singular) a soft coral, Alcyonium digitatum, with long finger-like polyps

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Etymology

Origin of dead-man's fingers

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dead man's fingers

Called dead man's fingers, these organisms grip dead or stressed trees, excrete a digestive enzyme into them, and then absorb the rotting material as energy.

From National Geographic ● Aug. 1, 2015

He ripped an old conch shell off a hank of dead man’s fingers and tossed it aside.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

The dead man’s fingers began to move, then his hands.

From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba

Their stems felt like a dead man's fingers.

From What's the Matter with Ireland? by Russell, Ruth

The dead man's fingers were swollen extraordinarily, the index finger of either hand especially being oddly discolored, as though bruised from the nail upward.

From The Hand Of Fu-Manchu Being a New Phase in the Activities of Fu-Manchu, the Devil Doctor by Rohmer, Sax