■ noun
1》 a long slender flexible appendage of an animal, used for grasping or moving about, or bearing sense organs.
2》 a tendril or sensitive glandular hair on a plant.
3》 an insidious spread of influence and control: the Party's ~s reached into every part of people's lives.
Derivatives
~d adjective
tentacular adjective
tentaculate adjective
Origin
C18: anglicized from mod. L. tentaculum , from L. tentare , temptare 'to feel, try'.