Definition of spicula in English:
spicula
nounPlural spiculae ˈspɪkjʊlə
technical 1A hard, pointed projection on part of a plant or animal; a spine or prickle.
Example sentencesExamples
- The prickly ash is armed with spiculae, like the locust.
- Some of the fibres are thickly covered with extremely minute spicula, occasionally aggregated into little tuffs; and hence they have a hairy appearance.
- Others are barbed like the spicula of a bee's sting.
- In certain genera with a simple spike this is clearly proved by the structure of the terminal flower or spicula.
Synonyms
needle, quill, bristle, barb, spike, prickle
- 1.1 A sharp-pointed crystalline structure.
Example sentencesExamples
- We have only to suppose, the particles which are employed in crystallization, to be endowed with a tendency to form spiculae.
- The frozen moisture may fall in spiculae or crystals of ice.
- The spiculae of hoar frost were of all lengths, from an inch downward.
- The calcareous matter beneath the lava, and especially that forming the crystalline spicula, could not have been subjected to the effects of a passing stream.
Origin
Mid 18th century: modern Latin, diminutive form of Latin spica 'spike'.