Advertisement - Continue reading below

Definition of "dactyl" [dac•tyl]

  • A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented or of one long syllable followed by two short, as in flattery. (noun)
  • A finger, toe, or similar part or structure; a digit. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "dactyl" in a sentence
  • "Because of the lever action, the striking limb called a dactyl moves much faster than the releasing chitin and attains the tremendous acceleration."
  • "Some prefer the _Iambic_ (macron-breve) (short - long) as approaching the nearest to common language; for which reason, they say, it is generally made use of in fables and comedies, on account of it's resemblance to conversation; and because the dactyl, which is the favourite number of hexameters, is more adapted to a pompous style."
  • "Other researchers have studied a variety of ways for climbing robots to stick to walls, including dry adhesives, microspines, so-called "dactyl" spines or large claws like ROCRs, suction cups, magnets, and even a mix of dry adhesive and claws to mimic wall-climbing geckos."