tendril

[ ten-dril ]

/ ˈtɛn drɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tendril ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Botany.

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.

RELATED WORDS

clasp, coil, curl, ringlet, cirrus

Nearby words

tendoplasty, tendosynovitis, tendotomy, tendovaginal, tendovaginitis, tendril, tendu, tendulkar, tenebrae, tenebrific, tenebrionid

Origin of tendril

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

Related forms

ten·dril·lar, ten·dril·ous, adjectiveten·dril·ly, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tendril

One woman is focused intently on wrapping and unwrapping a tendril of hair around her finger.
If Porn Isn’t Art, Does It Still Have a Right to Exist?|Michael Stabile|May 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Sallie has got a tendril around Henrietta which grows by the day.
The Tinder-Box|Maria Thompson Daviess
If we twist with sufficient patience we may imitate the coil of the tendril, which is performed precisely in this way.
Eye Spy|William Hamilton Gibson
The response to stimulation of the more excitable side of the tendril is thus inhibited by the stimulation of the opposite side.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

Fig. 157 is pinnate with a tendril at the end, in place of the odd leaflet, as in the Vetches and the Pea.
The Elements of Botany|Asa Gray
In his hand he held a few inches of little vine, with leaf and tendril and at the side a single pale pink blossom.
The Flower Princess|Abbie Farwell Brown

British Dictionary definitions for tendril

tendril

/ (ˈtɛndrɪl) /

noun

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

something resembling a tendril, such as a wisp of hair

Derived Forms

tendrillar or tendrilous, adjective

Word Origin for tendril

C16: perhaps from Old French tendron tendril (confused with Old French tendron bud), from Medieval Latin tendō tendon

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

Science definitions for tendril

tendril

[ tĕn′drəl ]

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.