Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fleshy clublike spike bearing minute flowers, usually enclosed within a sheathlike spathe, characteristic of aroid plants, such as the calla.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In botany, a form of inflorescence in plants, in which the flowers are closely arranged in a spike or head which has a fleshy or thickened rachis. The term is mostly restricted to the Araceæ and the palms, and further to those cases in which the inflorescence is accompanied by the peculiar bract or bracts called a spathe. See cuts under Araceæ, Indian, and inflorescence.
- n. In zoology:
- n. The hectocotylus of the male cephalopod: a specialized part of the fore foot, on one side, which becomes hectocotylized, or assumes a sexual function. On the opposite side is a corresponding part, not subject to hectocotylization, called the antispadix.
- n. In Hydrozoa, the manubrium of the hydromedusans, an offset of a blastostyle bearing the genital products, like the part of a pea-pod which bears the peas.
- n. A genus of cœlenterates.
Wiktionary
- n. A fleshy spike (inflorescence) with reduced flowers, usually enclosed by a spathe.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fleshy spike of flowers, usually inclosed in a leaf called a
spathe . - n. A special organ of the nautilus, due to a modification of the posterior tentacles.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the fleshy axis of a spike often surrounded by a spathe
Etymologies
- Latin spādīx, broken-off palm branch, from Greek, from spān, to stretch.
Examples
“When coming out from the ground, the [[flower]] shows itself as a green, bud-shaped configuration composed of a petal-like spathe that surrounds a central spike-like spadix, which is concealed inside at first, and eventually grows in size and finally revealing itself as the entire flower swells.”
“When emerging above the ground, the flower shows itself as a pale-green, bud-shaped configuration composed of a petal-like spathe that surrounds a central spike-like spadix, which is concealed inside at first, and eventually grows in size and finally revealing itself as the entire flower swells.”
“Starting Sept. 2, Metis prepared to bloom by sending up the spadix, which is growing daily and will keep growing during the blossoming process.”
“Anthurium flowers are small (about 3 mm) and develop crowded in a spike on a fleshy axis, called a spadix, a characteristic of the Araceae.”
“Here again we are struck by resemblances to the forms that were the subjects of our previous study, we even come across direct transitional forms, which differ from the others only by the lateral curve of the apex of the leaf; sometimes it is the central part, the spadix, that is bent outward, and the very details show a striking agreement with the structure of the aroid inflorescence, so much so that one might regard them as actually copied from them.”
“Theseus first instituted games in Delos, and tore off a branch from the sacred palm-tree, which was called spadix (from [Greek omitted]”
“Members of the Arum family produce flowers that consist of a "spadix" composed of clusters of tiny flowers on an upright axis that is usually partly surrounded or hidden by a leafy bract called a "spathe.”
“In our tradition, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon, is sitting with a young companion of his by the name of Ibn Umar and others who are elders when a spadix of a date-palm tree was brought to him.”
The Huffington Post: Imam Khalid Latif: Ramadan Reflection Day 14 - Wrestling with Arrogance
“The blame lies with the plant's appearance – it has speckled leaves and its flowers are well-hidden, but their spathe (the special leaf that protects the flowers of an arum) and spadix (the spike on which the flowers are arranged), are said to resemble male and female genitalia.”
“I'd wear my neon spadix bike shorts to stand apart from the other women wearing pink or purple.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spadix’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 1128 more...
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Phonestheme: SP-, the Pointy Object
Grateful credit to http://reocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9783/phond1.html.
spear, spire, spine, spike, spur, spit, spork, spindle, rasp, spar, spicule, spiny and 16 more...
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