springtail
any of numerous minute, wingless primitive insects of the order Collembola, most possessing a special abdominal appendage for jumping that allows for the nearly perpetual springing pattern characteristic of the group.
Origin of springtail
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use springtail in a sentence
Some of nature’s extreme self-launchers, the springtails, turn out to be much more acrobatic than scientists thought.
The spring serves the Collembola which possess it as an efficient leaping-organ (see springtail).
British Dictionary definitions for springtail
/ (ˈsprɪŋˌteɪl) /
any primitive wingless insect of the order Collembola, having a forked springing organ with which it projects itself forward
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
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