tentacle
noun
ten·ta·cle
ˈten-ti-kəl 
1
: any of various elongate flexible usually tactile or prehensile processes borne by invertebrate animals chiefly on the head or about the mouth
2
: something that resembles a tentacle especially in or as if in grasping or feeling out
corruption spreading its tentacles
3
: a sensitive hair or emergence on a plant (such as the sundew)
Examples of tentacle in a Sentence
The corporation's tentacles are felt in every sector of the industry.
the tentacles of organized crime
Recent Examples on the Web
Coppola’s central preoccupation, if you were forced to corral the movie’s many waving tentacles of thought, is that humans have the potential to build peaceful, beautiful, efficient societies, but generally fail to measure up to their own ideals.
—
Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 16 May 2024
And some of us understand that rock has so many tentacles to blues and to church.
—Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tentacle 
Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 16 May 2024
And some of us understand that rock has so many tentacles to blues and to church.
—Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tentacle
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tentacle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tentacle
Cite this Entry
“Tentacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tentacle. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tentacle
noun
ten·ta·cle
ˈtent-i-kəl
1
: any of various long flexible structures that stick out usually around the head or mouth of an animal (as a jellyfish or sea anemone) and are used especially for feeling or grasping
2
a
: something that resembles a tentacle especially in or as if in grasping or feeling out
b
: a sensitive hair on a plant
Medical Definition
tentacle
noun
ten·ta·cle
ˈtent-i-kəl
: any of various elongate flexible usually tactile or prehensile processes borne by animals chiefly on the head or about the mouth
especially
: one of the threadlike processes bearing nematocysts that hang down from the margin of the umbrella of many jellyfishes
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