Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small joint in the middle of a bird's wing, homologous with the thumb and bearing three or four quill-like feathers. Also called bastard wing, spurious wing.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In ornithology, the winglet, bastard wing, or ala spuria of a bird; the packet of small feathers which grows upon the so-called thumb of a bird's wing. The feathers are rather stiff, resembling primaries to some extent, but always smaller, and contribute to the smoothness and evenness of the border of the wing.
- In entomology: The small membranous appendage or scale situated at the base of each wing of many dipterous insects, above the halteres or poisers.
- A similar appendage beneath each elytron of some water-beetles. Also called alulet and cucilleron.
Wiktionary
- n. Bastard wing. A small projection on the anterior edge of the wing on some birds.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) A false or bastard wing. See under bastard.
WordNet 3.0
- n. scalelike structure between the base of the wing and the halter of a two-winged fly
- n. tuft of small stiff feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing
Etymologies
- From Latin; diminutive of ala ("wing"). (Wiktionary)
- New Latin, diminutive of Latin āla, wing. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Viki remembers the mysterious figure in the dark calling her 'alula' and, as she does some research, the first of a series of startling events that will change her life forever unfold.”
“But the alula opened properly and I decided I must have been overcontrolling, easy to do with Storer-Gulls; they're extremely maneuverable.”
“Two years ago a boy who had just graduated from orange wings tried it ... knocked off his left alula and primaries on a strut -- went fluttering and spinning down two thousand feet and crashed.”
“They're lovely -- titanalloy struts as light and strong as bird bones, tension-compensated wrist-pinion and shoulder joints, natural action in the alula slots, and automatic flap action in stalling.”
“While it was cycling I opened my left wing and thumbed the alula control -- I had noticed a tendency to sideslip the last time I was airborne.”
“Aileron: the scale covering the base of primaries in some insects; see tegulae in Diptera = alula and squama, q.v. Air-sacs or vesicles: pouch-like expansions of tracheal tubes in heavy insects, capable of inflation and supposed to lessen specific gravity.”
“Axillary excision: = a. incision, q.v. Axillary incision: Diptera; an incision on inner margin of wing, near base, which separates the alula from the main part.”
“Lobulus: the partly separated portion of the wings of some flies and of secondaries in some Hymenoptera: also used as = alula; q.v. Lobus: of maxilla = galea; q.v. Locomotion: organs of, are legs and wings.”
“Axillary lobe: the sclerite covering the base of the wing in Diptera; see also alula and posterior lobe.”
“Alulet: Diptera: the lobe at basal posterior part of wing; = alar appendage; posterior lobe: and has been used as = alula.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘alula’.
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Palindromes
tenet, �?ΙΨΟ�? Α�?ΟΜΗΜΑΤ..., rotator, kayak, tattarrattat, detartrated, racecar, level, step on no pets, fall leaves after..., level, madam, level!, reviver and 108 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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WF - palindromes
Yay, wow, waw, Utu, tut-tut, tut, tot, toot, TNT, Tet, tenet, tat and 91 more...
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be-tween the wings
monoplane, wheatear, synallaxine, fritillary, nightjar, morning-a-jar, evening-jarred, fieldfare, centre, accipiter, motmot, geometrid and 43 more...
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DYSLEXIC'S DELIGHT
Words a dyslexic can't get wrong: Palindromes
retartrater, redivider, level, noon, rotor, civic, peep, eke, deed, tenet, reviver, hannah and 145 more...
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Flightful Forays
trips from El Nido
vireo, tanager, scaup, lark, killdear, falcon, cormorant, becard, avocet, accipiter, peregrine, remex and 135 more...
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Flora and Fauna
poa annua, pooka, vole, bestiary, popple, turgor, starling, sharpy, copse, coreopsis, clove, corvid and 348 more...
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Things Avian
Wordies relating to birdies. :-)
calidrid, corvid, avian, avifauna, beak, brood, aerie, altricial, albumen, winged, wattle, covey and 217 more...
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Words
hum, ruby, pancake, clove, quail, pooka, alula, kinglet, willow, opal, arch, canoe and 18 more...
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feather measures
panache, pinnacle, quill, pinnate, plume, calamus, hackle, fledge, plumule, rachis, vexillum, comatulid and 37 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
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palindromes
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aibohphobia, alula, ewe, kayak, kook, madam, nun, racecar, radar, refer, reviver, rotator and 7 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for alula.
fbharjo ...and a palindrome on wings to fly Feb 13, 2012
reesetee A small group of feathers attached to the first "finger" (at the bend) of a bird's wing; they reduce turbulence and drag and assist with "braking" and "steering." Sep 24, 2007