Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In entomology, a proboscis; a beak or rostrum of various insects: originally applied by Illiger (1806) to the mouth-parts of bees; applied by Kirby and Spence (1818) and subsequent authors to the oral instrument of hemipterous insects, in which the ordinary trophi are replaced by a sheath containing four hair-like lancets or scalpella.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) The proboscis of hemipterous insects. See
Illust. underhemiptera .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic The
proboscis ofhemipterous insects .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word promuscis.
Examples
-
[Footnote 696: Cassiodorus calls it 'promuscis.'] 'When it comes to water it sucks up in its trunk a vast quantity, which at the word of command it squirts forth like a shower.
The Letters of Cassiodorus Being A Condensed Translation Of The Variae Epistolae Of Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator Senator Cassiodorus 1872
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.