proboscis

«proboscis» in Mova's school dictionary: a long, bendy nose or snout, like an elephant's trunk or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a proboscis, proboscises)

meaning for a pupil

1) A proboscis is a long, bendy nose or snout, like an elephant's trunk or a tapir's snout. tree →

2) A proboscis is also the long, tube-like mouthpart of some insects, like butterflies and mosquitoes, used for sucking up food. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons on adaptation, a butterfly uncoils its proboscis like a straw to drink nectar, then rolls it up; a mosquito uses its proboscis to pierce skin and drink blood. The proboscis monkey of Borneo has a huge, dangly nose. In stories, «proboscis» is a funny, grand word for a big nose. Phrases: «a butterfly's proboscis», «proboscis monkey».

examples

• The butterfly uncurled its proboscis to drink nectar. tree →
• A mosquito bites with its proboscis. tree →
• An elephant's trunk is a kind of proboscis. tree →
• The proboscis monkey has an enormous nose. tree →
• A moth's proboscis can be longer than its body. tree →
• The bee pushed its proboscis deep into the flower. tree →

note

Say it "pro-BOSS-iss" (the c is silent). Plural: «proboscises» (also «proboscides» in science). A tricky spelling: -scis.

In the corpora

• Butterflies have taste sensors on their feet and drink through a long tube called a proboscis that stays rolled up like a party blower.
• Male proboscis monkeys have long dangling noses that make their calls louder, and proboscis monkeys swim well with partly webbed feet.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «proboscis» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.