Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The rearmost segment of the body of certain arthropods.
  • noun An extension of this segment, such as the middle lobe of the tail of a lobster or the stinger of a scorpion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In zoology, the last segment, or an azygous appendage of the last segment, or the median axis of the last segment, whether in one piece or more, of certain crustaceans and arachmidans, as the middle flipper of a lobster's tail-fin, the long sharp tail of a horseshoe-crab, and the sting of a scorpion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) The terminal joint or movable piece at the end of the abdomen of Crustacea and other articulates. See thoracostraca.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The part of an arthropod posterior to the last segment.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek, limit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek a boundary, limit.

Support

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Examples

  • The boys have a triangle shaped telson (tail) while the girls have an oval shaped telson which is used to carry the eggs tucked in between it and the body.

    ScubaBoard 2010

  • Scorpions: They are eight-legged invertebrates with an extended body and an erectile tail that ends with the 'telson' (the sting).

    unknown title 2009

  • The median length of the carapace was taken, from the tip of the rostrum to the posterior edge, and the length of the abdomen was taken from this point to the edge of the telson.

    Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 Containing Sixteen Experimental Investigations from the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. Various 1889

  • The new species is distinguished from all the known species of the genus by the combination of broadly rounded rostrum, narrower eyes and the spination of the uropodal endopod and telson.

    Daily News & Analysis 2009

  • So, wait, what does Pam’s gender history have to do with this? reply telson

    Wiccan Employee Files Sexual And Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Google Leena Rao 2005

  • - P900 24 year old from madras, works as a team leader in a network support centre. debu aka Devesh Rai - Nokia 9500, treo650 and a telson twc-1150 .. debu is from New Delhi, studying in bangalore, 1st year of engineering, kind of technology lover, Mobile phones are his hobby. (we can see that for sure.) t610 - a fine lady from a remote place in gujarat has been kicking up quite a revolution in posting. orginally from tamilnadu, she is known for very witty replies that holds a meaning in a very mysterious way. k700 - a fine young man from mumbai, doing his MBA. he also owns a paul - nokia 6680 - from bangalore and is a bsc student.

    Esato discussion forum 2009

  • The leg impressions became deeper and more erratic, the telson (the long spiny tail) started being lifted up and down, up and down, showing that the animal was really being affected by the conditions.

    Three Ways Of Touching The Earth Daniel Lavery 2023

Comments

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  • last segment of a crustacean.

    February 11, 2008

  • Are all of the segments named? Just askin'.

    February 11, 2008

  • So this would be the segment after the last commercial break but before the start of the next crustacean?

    April 14, 2011

  • Same crust time, same crustacean.

    April 14, 2011