extensile

American  

[ik-sten-suhl, -sahyl] / ɪkˈstɛn səl, -saɪl /

adjective

Chiefly Zoology, Anatomy.

1. capable of being extended; adapted for stretching out; extensible; protrusible.

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Other Word Forms

• nonextensile adjective

Etymology

Origin of extensile

First recorded in 1735–45; extens(ion) + -ile

Example Sentences

There are no teeth; and although the tongue is long and worm-like, it is not extensile.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various

The Indian tapir has a more powerful and extensile trunk than the American, and its skull shows in consequence a greater space for the attachment of the muscles.

From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage

Held immovable by the beam it lay upon the floor, a strangely extensile, amoeba-like metal-studded mass of leathery substance.

From Triplanetary by Smith, E. E. (Edward Elmer)

When the puncture into the nut is completed one or more eggs are inserted by means of an extensile, thread-like tube, or ovipositor, of the same length as the snout.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Eleventh Annual Meeting Washington, D. C. October 7 and 8, 1920 by Northern Nut Growers Association

This genus has four molars less than the last, a shorter muzzle; the cheek-bones or zygomatic arch more projecting; tongue rather longer and more tapering, and slightly extensile.

From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage