Definition of "proboscis" [pro•bos•cis]

• A long flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant. (noun)
• The slender, tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates, such as insects, worms, and mollusks. (noun)
• A human nose, especially a prominent one. (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.

• "With a single or twin proboscis-like suction pipes, it pumps up materials from the sea floor and then discharges them into a storage compartment known as the hopper."
• "The contractile vacuole is terminal, the proboscis is short, slightly raised and separated from the body by a deep cleft; the buccal cilia are inserted part way up on the proboscis."
• "Not all parasites pass through a transformation inside the vector and remain in the salivary glands: filarial parasites are attached to the so-called proboscis (the mouth-part penetrating the skin) and are therefore transmitted mechanically."