retractile
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonretractile adjective
- nonretractility noun
- retractility noun
- subretractile adjective
Etymology
Origin of retractile
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.
When the field goal is very, very nice, the denture effect becomes more pronounced, to the point that it starts to resemble a second, retractile mouth, tucked within the larger one; I think of “Alien.”
From New York Times
The bridge is formally known as a “retractile” bridge.
From New York Times
The pseudopods are retractile, the axial filament being absorbed as the filament grows shorter and thicker and disappearing when the pseudopod merges into the ectoplasm, to be reformed at the same time with the pseudopod.
From Project Gutenberg
Most species have sharp, curved claws, often retractile between some of the lamellae or into a special sheath.
From Project Gutenberg
The bells or cups are not, as might be fancied from a casual inspection, open like wineglasses at the top, but furnished with a retractile disk or cover, on which the cilia are arranged.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
