pneumatophore
[ noo-mat-uh-fawr, -fohr, nyoo-, noo-muh-tuh-, nyoo- ]
/ nʊˈmæt əˌfɔr, -ˌfoʊr, nyʊ-, ˈnu mə tə-, ˈnyu- /
|
noun
Botany. a specialized structure developed from the root in certain plants growing in swamps and marshes, serving as a respiratory organ.
Zoology. the air sac of a siphonophore, serving as a float.
Nearby words
- pneumatocyst,
- pneumatograph,
- pneumatology,
- pneumatolysis,
- pneumatometer,
- pneumatorrhachis,
- pneumatosis,
- pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis,
- pneumatotherapy,
- pneumaturia
Origin of pneumatophore
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for pneumatophore
pneumatophore
/ (njuːˈmætəʊˌfɔː) /
noun
a specialized root of certain swamp plants, such as the mangrove, that branches upwards, rising above ground, and undergoes gaseous exchange with the atmosphere
a polyp in coelenterates of the order Siphonophora, such as the Portuguese man-of-war, that is specialized as a float
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
pneumatophore
[ nōō-măt′ə-fôr′, nōō′mə-tə- ]
A specialized root that grows upwards out of the water or mud to reach the air and obtain oxygen for the root systems of trees that live in swampy or tidal habitats. The knees of mangroves and the bald cypress are pneumatophores. Also called air root
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.