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Definition of "siphuncle" [si•phun•cle]

  • A tubelike structure in the body of a shelled cephalopod, such as a nautilus, extending through each chamber of the shell. (noun)
  • A tubular organ on the abdomen of an aphid, from which a waxy fluid is secreted as a pheromone when the insect is attacked. Also called cornicle. (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 "siphuncle" in a sentence
  • "The foramen here described is easily seen; but, as I have stated, there are other modes of communication between the so-called pericardium and the cavity with which the siphuncle communicates, of a far more extensive nature."
  • "It has altered the position of the siphuncle, has placed it in the centre instead of leaving it on the back, but it still whirls its spiral logarithmically as did the Ammonites in the earliest ages of the world's existence."
  • "_siphuncle, _ which thus connected the smallest or aphical chamber with the largest."
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