tendril

American  

[ten-dril] / ˈtɛn drɪl /

noun

Botany.

1. a threadlike, leafless organ of climbing plants, often growing in spiral form, which attaches itself to or twines round some other body, so as to support the plant.

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tendril British  

/ ˈtɛndrɪl /

noun

1. a specialized threadlike part of a leaf or stem that attaches climbing plants to a support by twining or adhering

2. something resembling a tendril, such as a wisp of hair

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tendril Scientific  

/ tĕn′drəl /

1. A slender, coiling plant part, often a modified leaf or leaf part, that helps support the stem of some climbing angiosperms by clinging to or winding around an object. Peas, squash, and grapes produce tendrils.

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Other Word Forms

• tendrillar adjective
• tendrilly adjective
• tendrilous adjective

Etymology

Origin of tendril

1530–40; earlier tendrel, variant (perhaps by dissimilation) of Middle English tendren, tendron < Middle French tendron shoot, sprout, cartilage

Example Sentences

A few painstaking moments later and he has freed his bounty—a small caterpillar perhaps an inch long, caked in earth with a reddish tendril of fungus sprouting from its head.

From National Geographic • Jan. 4, 2024

There, poking up through the soil, was a tiny green tendril.

From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2023

A twisty tendril of vapor in white-to-red ombre could be seen snaking behind a bright white light in parts of South Korea’s sky Friday evening.

From Washington Times • Dec. 30, 2022

On a fall day at Duwamish Head Greenbelt, a strip of forest sandwiched between Harbor Avenue Southwest and Southwest Admiral Way in West Seattle, 68-year-old volunteer Doug Adams stumbles over a tendril.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 2, 2022

A tendril of ivy curled around his head and neck.

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee