spicule
noun
Forms spicules
- noun A sharp, needle-like piece.
- noun A tiny glass flake formed during the manufacture of glass vials.
- noun (biology) Any of many needle-like crystalline structures that provide skeletal support in marine invertebrates like sponges.
- noun A needle-like mating structure found only in male nematodes.
- noun (astronomy) A jet of matter ejected from the photosphere of the sun.
- noun A small spike of flowers.
- noun (historical) A unit of mass equal to 125 pounds.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin spīculum.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L. spiculum a little point, a dart.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spicule”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details