pro·bos·cis

(prō-bŏs′ĭs, -kĭs)

n. pl. pro·bos·cis·es or pro·bos·ci·des (-bŏs′ĭ-dēz′)

1. A long flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant.

2. A slender, tubular organ in the head region of an invertebrate, such as certain insects and worms, usually used for sucking or piercing.

3. A human nose, especially a prominent one.

[Latin, from Greek proboskis : pro-, in front; see pro-² + boskein, to feed.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

proboscis

(prəʊˈbɒsɪs)

n, pl -cises or -cides (-sɪˌdiːz)

1. (Zoology) a long flexible prehensile trunk or snout, as of an elephant

2. (Zoology) the elongated mouthparts of certain insects, adapted for piercing or sucking food

3. (Zoology) any similar part or organ

4. informal facetious a person's nose, esp if large

[C17: via Latin from Greek proboskis trunk of an elephant, from boskein to feed]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pro•bos•cis

(proʊˈbɒs ɪs, -kɪs)

n., pl. -bos•cis•es, -bos•ci•des (-ˈbɒs ɪˌdiz)

1. the trunk of an elephant.

2. any long flexible snout, as of the tapir.

3. the elongate, protruding process on the head of certain insects or worms, used for feeding or for sensing food.

4. Facetious. the human nose, esp. when large.

[1570–80; < Latin < Greek proboskís elephant's trunk =pro- pro-² + bósk(ein) to feed + -is (s. -id-) n. suffix]

pro·bos·cis

(prō-bŏs′ĭs)

1. A long, flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant.

2. The slender, tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates, such as butterflies and mosquitoes.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	proboscis - the human nose (especially when it is large) nose, olfactory organ - the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals; "he has a cold in the nose" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
	2.	proboscis - a long flexible snout as of an elephant trunk neb, snout - a long projecting or anterior elongation of an animal's head; especially the nose elephant - five-toed pachyderm mammoth - any of numerous extinct elephants widely distributed in the Pleistocene; extremely large with hairy coats and long upcurved tusks

proboscis

noun

The structure on the human face that contains the nostrils and organs of smell and forms the beginning of the respiratory tract:

nose.

Informal: beak, snoot.

Slang: nozzle, schnoz, schnozzle, snout.

Translations

خُرْطوم الفيل

chobotsosák

snabel

Rüssel

kärsä

trompe

rani; neftota

proboscide

čiulptuvasstraublys

smecerissnuķis

proboscis

[prəʊˈbɒsɪs] N (proboscises or probocides (pl)) [prəʊˈbɒsɪdiːz] → probóscide f, trompa f → trompa f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

proboscis

n (Zool, hum inf) → Rüssel m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

proboscis

(prəˈbosis) noun

a nose, or mouth-part in certain animals, insects etc.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The mouth of the animal was situated at the extremity of a proboscis some sixty or seventy feet in length, and about as thick as the body of an ordinary elephant.

"'Four membranous wings covered with little colored scales of metallic appearance; mouth forming a rolled proboscis, produced by an elongation of the jaws, upon the sides of which are found the rudiments of mandibles and downy palpi; the inferior wings retained to the superior by a stiff hair; antennae in the form of an elongated club, prismatic; abdomen pointed, The Death's -- headed Sphinx has occasioned much terror among the vulgar, at times, by the melancholy kind of cry which it utters, and the insignia of death which it wears upon its corslet.'"

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To-day we number four Emperors of the Abnormal Proboscis in good standing - doubles every four weeks, see?

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Bearing such facts in mind, I can see no reason to doubt that an accidental deviation in the size and form of the body, or in the curvature and length of the proboscis, &c., far too slight to be appreciated by us, might profit a bee or other insect, so that an individual so characterised would be able to obtain its food more quickly, and so have a better chance of living and leaving descendants.

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On the agitation of his web, the enormous spider made an abrupt move from his central cell, then with one bound, rushed upon the fly, which he folded together with his fore antennae, while his hideous proboscis dug into the victim's bead.

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They can't be bees--nobody ever saw bees a mile off, you know--' and for some time she stood silent, watching one of them that was bustling about among the flowers, poking its proboscis into them, 'just as if it was a regular bee,' thought Alice.

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"To a man of philosophic temperament like myself the blood-tick, with its lancet-like proboscis and its distending stomach, is as beautiful a work of Nature as the peacock or, for that matter, the aurora borealis.

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I may remark, that in Abyssinia the elephant, according to Bruce, when it cannot reach with its proboscis the branches, deeply scores with its tusks the trunk of the tree, up and down and all round, till it is sufficiently weakened to be broken down.

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About them frisking playd All Beasts of th' Earth, since wilde, and of all chase In Wood or Wilderness, Forrest or Den; Sporting the Lion rampd, and in his paw Dandl'd the Kid; Bears, Tygers, Ounces, Pards Gambold before them, th' unwieldy Elephant To make them mirth us'd all his might, & wreathd His Lithe Proboscis; close the Serpent sly Insinuating, wove with Gordian twine His breaded train, and of his fatal guile Gave proof unheeded; others on the grass Coucht, and now fild with pasture gazing sat, Or Bedward ruminating: for the Sun Declin'd was hasting now with prone carreer To th' Ocean Iles, and in th' ascending Scale Of Heav'n the Starrs that usher Evening rose: When SATAN still in gaze, as first he stood, Scarce thus at length faild speech recoverd sad.

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His face was composed and occupied, but his nose-tip still had the air of being the most mobile part of his face, as if it had just turned from left to right like an elephant's proboscis. I had thought him poisonous enough while he was pursuing and watching me; but I think his unconsciousness of my presence was more frightful still.

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