tentacle

American  

[ten-tuh-kuhl] / ˈtɛn tə kəl /

noun

• tentacles
  plural

1. Zoology. any of various slender, flexible processes or appendages in animals, especially invertebrates, that serve as organs of touch, prehension, etc.; feeler.

2. Botany. a sensitive filament or process, as one of the glandular hairs of the sundew.

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tentacle British  

/ ˈtɛntəkəl /

noun

1. any of various elongated flexible organs that occur near the mouth in many invertebrates and are used for feeding, grasping, etc

2. any of the hairs on the leaf of an insectivorous plant that are used to capture prey

3. something resembling a tentacle, esp in its ability to reach out or grasp

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tentacle Scientific  

/ tĕn′tə-kəl /

1. A narrow, flexible, unjointed part extending from the body of certain animals, such as an octopus, jellyfish, or sea anemone. Tentacles are used for feeling, grasping, or moving.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intertentacular
  adjective
• subtentacular
  adjective
• tentacle-like
  adjective
• tentacled
  adjective
• tentaclelike
  adjective
• tentacular
  adjective
• tentaculoid
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tentacles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tentacle

1755–65; < New Latin tentāculum, equivalent to Latin tentā ( re ) (variant of temptāre to feel, probe) + -culum -cule ²

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Explanation

A tentacle is long, ropey thing that sticks out of an animal’s face. You probably think they’re gross. Octopuses probably think they’re cute. You can use the word tentacle when referring to all kinds of things that grasp and hold, not just slithery creatures like octopi and jellyfish. But the word does have creepy associations, which is why “the tentacles of organized crime” is a more common expression than, say, the “tentacles of friendship.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tentacle tentacles

Hardware has been a tentacle of my personal style code since, infiltrating every part of my closet, home and life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Her work includes creating a removable extra thumb and a tentacle arm.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2024

"Repair-specific proliferative cells mainly contribute to the epithelium -- the thin outer layer -- of the newly formed tentacle."

From Science Daily ● Dec. 22, 2023

Each tentacle also contains rows of suckers to help the octopus maintain its grip.

From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2023

The tentacle lost the battle and disappeared down the drain with a horrible sucking sound.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

Its tentacles reached into the heart of the Albanian government, with top officials including an environment minister jailed for graft.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Morgan said he was swimming near Trefin Beach in Pembrokeshire when he spotted the tentacles in the water.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

“Poetry lingers, and its tentacles grip,” the author writes in an afterword.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Phishing scams are like an octopus: They have many sticky tentacles.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

The whale writhes, its fluke beating powerfully against the air as it leaves the water, revealing how completely the squid’s tentacles envelop it, squeezing the whale with life-crushing force.

From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

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