Hypertext Webster Gateway: "proboscis"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Proboscis \Pro*bos"cis\, n.; pl. {Proboscides}. [L. fr. Gr. ?; ?
before + ? to feed, graze.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) A hollow organ or tube attached to the head, or
connected with the mouth, of various animals, and
generally used in taking food or drink; a snout; a trunk.

Note: The proboscis of an elephant is a flexible muscular
elongation of the nose. The proboscis of insects is
usually a chitinous tube formed by the modified
maxill[ae], or by the labium. See Illusts. of
{Hemiptera} and {Lepidoptera}.

2. (Zo["o]l.) By extension, applied to various tubelike mouth
organs of the lower animals that can be everted or
protruded.

Note: The proboscis of annelids and of mollusks is usually a
portion of the pharynx that can be everted or
protruded. That of nemerteans is a special long
internal organ, not connected with the mouth, and not
used in feeding, but capable of being protruded from a
pore in the head. See Illust. in Appendix.

3. The nose. [Jocose]

{Proboscis monkey}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Kahau}.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

proboscis
n 1: (informal) the human nose (especially when it is large)
2: a long flexible snout as of an elephant [syn: {trunk}]


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