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filiform

American  
[fil-uh-fawrm, fahy-luh-] / ˈfɪl əˌfɔrm, ˈfaɪ lə- /

adjective

  1. threadlike; filamentous.


filiform British  
/ ˈfɪlɪˌfɔːm, ˈfaɪ- /

adjective

  1. biology having the form of a thread

"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 filiform

1750–60; < Latin fīl ( um ) a thread + -i- + -form

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Red whirls on this rabbit’s tongue are filiform papillae, which roughen the tongue and help move food around the mouth.

From New York Times • May 21, 2024

This enabled the AI tool to predict the type of papillae to within 85 per cent accuracy and to map the position of filiform and fungiform papillae on the tongue's surface.

From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2023

Of these numerous projections, the mushroom-shaped fungiform papillae hold our taste buds whereas the crown-shaped filiform papillae give the tongue its texture and sense of touch.

From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2023

The receptors for tastants are located across the outer portion and front of the tongue, outside of the middle area where the filiform papillae are most prominent.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Stem glabrous, tall, very leafy; leaves mostly alternate, linear to filiform and entire, or the lowest lanceolate and serrulate; scales filiform-attenuate.—Dry plains, Mo. to Neb., south and westward.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa