elater

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An elaterid beetle.
2. n. Botany A tiny elongated structure that forces the dispersal of spores by the absorption of moisture. It is either a band attached to the spore, as in horsetails, or a filament occurring among the spores, as in liverworts.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who or that which elates.
2. n. Elasticity; especially, the expansibility of a gas.
3. n. [NL.] In botany: One of the four clubshaped filaments of Equisetaceæ, attached at one point to a spore, formed by the splitting of the outer coat of the spore. They are strongly hygroscopic, and aid in the dispersion of the spores, also keeping a small group together, as they leave the sporangium. See cut under Equisetaceæ.
4. n. One of the long and slender fusiform cells of Hepaticæ having one or more spiral thickenings within. They loosen the spores in the capsule at the time of their dispersion.
5. n. One of the similar free filaments of Myxomycetes forming part of the capillitium, and frequently having spiral thickenings. They are sometimes furnished with spines. Their characters are useful in distinguishing species.
6. n. [NL.] In entomology: [capitalized] The typical genus of the family Elateridæ, founded by Linnæus in 1767. It comprises over 100 species, of which nearly 50 inhabit North America. They are mostly found in temperate regions, on leaves and flowers, or oftener under bark. They are distinguished from members of related genera by the filiform fourth tarsal joint, oblong-oval scutellum, small regularly convex head, and the sinuate single-toothed dilatation of the hind coxæ.
7. n. One of the Elateridæ; a click-beetle.
8. n. One of the elastic bristles at the end of the abdomen of the Poduridæ. A. S. Packard. See spring.

Wiktionary

1. n. That which elates.
2. n. obsolete Elasticity; especially the expansibility of a gas.
3. n. botany A long, slender cell produced among spores and having hygroscopic secondary cell wall thickenings.
4. n. botany Any of the long, slender hygroscopic appendages attached to the spores of horsetails (genus Equisetum).
5. n. zoology An elaterid, or click beetle.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who, or that which, elates.
2. n. (Bot.) An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.
3. n. (Zoöl.) Any beetle of the family Elateridæ, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; -- called also click beetle, spring beetle, and snapping beetle.
4. n. (Zoöl.) The caudal spring used by Podura and related insects for leaping. See Collembola.
5. n. (Chem.) The active principle of elaterium, being found in the juice of the wild or squirting cucumber (Ecballium agreste, formerly Motordica Elaterium) and other related species. It is extracted as a bitter, white, crystalline substance, which is a violent purgative.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any of various widely distributed beetles