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proboscis

 
Dictionary: pro·bos·cis   (prō-bŏs'ĭs) pronunciation
n., pl., -bos·cis·es, or -bos·ci·des (-bŏs'ĭ-dēz').
  1. A long flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant.
  2. The slender, tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates, such as insects, worms, and mollusks.
  3. A human nose, especially a prominent one.

[Latin, from Greek proboskis : pro-, in front; see pro-2 + boskein, to feed.]


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Thesaurus: proboscis
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noun

    The structure on the human face that contains the nostrils and organs of smell and forms the beginning of the respiratory tract: nose. Informal beak, snoot. Slang nozzle, schnoz, schnozzle, snout. See body/spirit, convex/concave.

Veterinary Dictionary: proboscis
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Elongated, flexible feeding apparatus, formed of the fused mouthparts, in some insects.

Devil's Dictionary: proboscis
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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

The rudimentary organ of an elephant which serves him in place of the knife-and-fork that Evolution has as yet denied him. For purposes of humor it is popularly called a trunk.

Asked how he knew that an elephant was going on a journey, the illustrious Jo. Miller cast a reproachful look upon his tormentor, and answered, absently: "When it is ajar," and threw himself from a high promontory into the sea. Thus perished in his pride the most famous humorist of antiquity, leaving to mankind a heritage of woe! No successor worthy of the title has appeared, though Mr. Edward bok, of The Ladies' Home Journal, is much respected for the purity and sweetness of his personal character.



Wikipedia: Proboscis
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Butterflies have two antennae, two compound eyes, and a proboscis.
A syrphid fly using its proboscis to reach the nectar of a flower
Everted proboscis of a polychaete (Phyllodoce lineata)
Proboscis of a predatory marine snail Mitra mitra.

In general, a proboscis (from Greek προ, pro "before" and βοσκειν, boskein "to feed") is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate.[1].

Contents

Etymology

The correct Greek plural is proboscides, but in English it is more common to simply add -es, forming proboscises.

Although the word derives from the Greek "pro-boskein", the Latin spelling "proboscis" is taken in favor of the Greek "proboskis".

Invertebrates

The most common usage is to refer to the tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates such as insects (e.g., moths and butterflies), worms (including proboscis worms) and gastropod molluscs.

Lepidoptera mouth parts

The mouth parts of Lepidoptera mainly consist of the sucking kind; this part is known as the proboscis or 'haustellum'.The proboscis consists of two tubes held together by hooks and separable or cleaning. The proboscis contains muscles for operating. Each tube is inardly concave, thus forming a central tube up which moiture is sucked. Suction takes place due to the contraction and expansion of a sac in the head.[2]

A few Lepidoptera species lack mouth parts and therefor do not feed in the imago. Others, such as the family Micropterigidae, have mouth parts of the chewing kind.[3]

Vertebrates

The elephant's trunk and the tapir's elongated nose are called "proboscis", as is the snout of the male elephant seal.

The Proboscis Monkey is named for its enormous nose, and an elongated human nose is sometimes facetiously called a proboscis.

An abnormal facial appendage that sometimes accompanies ocular and nasal abnormalities in humans is also called a proboscis.

Notable mammals with some form of proboscis are:

See also

References

  1. ^ "proboscis". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proboscis. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
  2. ^ Evans, Identification of Indian Butterflies, Introduction, pp 1 to 35.
  3. ^ Charles A. Triplehorn and Norman F. Johnson (2005). Borror and Delong's Introduction to the Study of Insects (7th edition). Thomson Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA. ISBN 0-03-096835-6

Translations: Proboscis
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - snabel

Nederlands (Dutch)
slurf, snuit, neus

Français (French)
n. - (Zool) trompe, appendice (nasal) (hum)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Rüssel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ζωολ.) προβοσκίδα

Italiano (Italian)
proboscide

Português (Portuguese)
n. - probóscide (m)

Русский (Russian)
хобот, хоботок

Español (Spanish)
n. - probóscide, trompa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - snabel

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
鼻子, 吻, 长嘴

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鼻子, 吻, 長嘴

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (코끼리, 맥 따위의 비죽 나온) 코

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 鼻, 吻, 口先

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خرطوم الفيل, خرطوم الحشرة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חדק, אבר המציצה של מספר סוגי תולעים, חדק החרק, חדק הפיל או הטפיר, אף‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Proboscis" Read more
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