retractile
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
The cat's claws are of course retractile, as I have just described to you.
From The Wonders of the Jungle, Book Two by Ghosh, Sarath Kumar
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 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various
The jaws were widely extended, so that the sharp retractile teeth were plainly visible, and the forked tongue at intervals was shot forward, and gleamed in the sun.
From The Young Yagers A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Reid, Mayne
A short distance behind the head were two tremendous reddish-brown fins, with strong supporting spines that seemed to terminate in retractile claws.
From The Terror from the Depths by Wright, Sewell Peaslee
The Carchesium differs from the common Vorticella, by branching like a tree, but the stems are all retractile, although the trunk seldom exercises the power.
From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.
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.
