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  

/ tɛnˈtækjʊlə, tɛnˈtækjʊˌlɔɪd, 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

Etymology

Origin of tentacle

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

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

Our enterprising Gravedigger, a true woman of science, engineers a lizard elixir and regenerates the finger into a long tentacle that eventually demands a body.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

There were costume changes and choreographed dance numbers, even an intro where a moving tentacle flailed halfway out of her mouth.

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025

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

A growing, wiggling tentacle of doubt wouldn’t let me completely believe High John’s words.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

It suggests using tweezers or the edge of a bank card to remove the tentacles as soon as possible as they can continue to sting while attached to the body.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

“Iran and the militias have tentacles throughout the economy,” said Victoria Taylor, who oversaw Iraq policy at the Biden administration State Department and is now at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Along with his Unification Church, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon built a political propaganda empire, which had tentacles all over Washington, D.C., at one time.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

I may be goo on the inside, but octopuses are basically made of goo and I’ve got all eight tentacles in motion.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden