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)
tentacled
ˈten-ti-kəld
adjective 
Example Sentences
The corporation's tentacles are felt in every sector of the industry. the tentacles of organized crime
Recent Examples on the Web So many people get tentacle-choked to almost-death. 
Darren Franich, EW.com, 5 July 2022 After breaking free of Vecna’s tentacle clutches to save Max from his deadly mind-warping, Eleven presumably kills Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 5 July 2022 That portfolio of accounts is just one tentacle of China’s rapidly growing influence on U.S.-owned social media platforms, an Associated Press examination has found. The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Mar. 2022 That portfolio of accounts is just one tentacle of China’s rapidly growing influence on U.S.-owned social media platforms, an Associated Press examination has found. Bloomberg.com, 30 Mar. 2022 On a cedar tree, particularly during spring rains, the galls on the cedar will produce gummy orange growths with tentacle-like protrusions. Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 14 May 2022 What do your tongue, an octopus’ tentacle and an elephant’s trunk have in common? Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 2022 At least the former is a strong leader who understands that a country gets ahead through blue-collar grit, family values, and developing an efficient laser-beam-tentacle-to-organ-harvesting-cauldron pipeline. Teddy Wayne, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022 Speeded up, there’s something grotesque about the tentacle of doom that crushes to death a plant known for its expertise in self-defense. Stephen Armstrong, Wired, 2 Dec. 2021 See More
Darren Franich, EW.com, 5 July 2022 After breaking free of Vecna’s tentacle clutches to save Max from his deadly mind-warping, Eleven presumably kills Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 5 July 2022 That portfolio of accounts is just one tentacle of China’s rapidly growing influence on U.S.-owned social media platforms, an Associated Press examination has found. The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Mar. 2022 That portfolio of accounts is just one tentacle of China’s rapidly growing influence on U.S.-owned social media platforms, an Associated Press examination has found. Bloomberg.com, 30 Mar. 2022 On a cedar tree, particularly during spring rains, the galls on the cedar will produce gummy orange growths with tentacle-like protrusions. Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 14 May 2022 What do your tongue, an octopus’ tentacle and an elephant’s trunk have in common? Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 2022 At least the former is a strong leader who understands that a country gets ahead through blue-collar grit, family values, and developing an efficient laser-beam-tentacle-to-organ-harvesting-cauldron pipeline. Teddy Wayne, The New Yorker, 9 May 2022 Speeded up, there’s something grotesque about the tentacle of doom that crushes to death a plant known for its expertise in self-defense. Stephen Armstrong, Wired, 2 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin tentāculum, from Latin temptāre, tentāre "to feel, test, examine" + -culum, suffix of instrument (going back to Indo-European *-tlom) — more at tempt
Note: The Latin word was used by linnaeus in the second edition (1740) of Systema naturae and may have been coined by him.
First Known Use
circa 1762, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
tentacle
noun
ten·ta·cle ˈten-tə-kəl
: one of the long thin flexible parts that stick out around the head or the mouth of an animal (as a jellyfish or sea anemone) and are used especially for feeling or grasping
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