What (who) is tendril - definition

SPECIALISATION OF PLANT PARTS USED TO CLIMB OR BIND

Cirrus (botany); Tendrils; Self-discrimination in plants

tendril

(Bot.) Filament, cirrus.

tendril

¦ noun

1. a slender thread-like part of a climbing plant, which stretches out and twines round any suitable support.

2. a slender ringlet of hair.

Origin

C16: prob. a dimin. of OFr. tendron 'young shoot', from L. tener 'tender'.

tendril

Anything useless that is kept for no particular reason. A packrat saves tendril; something most people would throw away that is kept.
Barnaby's apartment is full of tendril.Dave needs to throw away that stack of newspaper and all the other tendril he's got cluttering his patio.

Wikipedia

Tendril

In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as Cuscuta. There are many plants that have tendrils; including sweet peas, passionflower, grapes and the Chilean glory-flower. Tendrils respond to touch and to chemical factors by curling, twining, or adhering to suitable structures or hosts. Tendrils vary greatly in size from a few centimeters up to 27 inches (69 centimeters) for Nepenthes harryana The chestnut vine (Tetrastigma voinierianum) can have tendrils up to 20.5 inches (52 centimeters) in length. Normally there is only one simple or branched tendril at each node (see plant stem), but the aardvark cucumber (Cucumis humifructus) can have as many as eight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendril

Pronunciation examples for tendril

1. and pulled the tendril free.

The Ruin of Angels - A Novel of the Craft Sequence _ Max Gladstone _ Talks at Google

2. a gallowglass tendril, torn free and sent

The Ruin of Angels - A Novel of the Craft Sequence _ Max Gladstone _ Talks at Google

3. You can add pea tendril tops, pea--

The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen _ Amelia Saltsman _ Talks at Google

4. With the tendril gone, Ley stopped screaming

The Ruin of Angels - A Novel of the Craft Sequence _ Max Gladstone _ Talks at Google

Examples of use of tendril

1. A thin tendril of Israeli–held land would stretch up through the West Bank hills to the settlement of Ariel, and another tendril to Kedumim, near Nablus.

2. It inserts a peg–like tendril into that plant and feeds off it.

3. The 38–year–old Beijing native was standing on the roof of the hostel he owns in Lhasa, watching the tendril of smoke rise, when one of his guests ran in, breathless, from the street.

4. From every epithet springs a counter tendril: Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is a pretty birdie – like her full Hebrew name, Tziporah – but she is a featherweight; an acting prime minister is straining with all his might to reignite the ashes of his term in office, and a few more potential prime ministers who tripped in their previous positions are hoping to rise in their next, exalted position.