Lexic.us

Definition of Spiracle

1. Noun. A breathing orifice.

Definition of Spiracle

1. n. The nostril, or one of the nostrils, of whales, porpoises, and allied animals.

Definition of Spiracle

1. Noun. A pore or opening used (especially by spiders and some fish) for breathing. ¹

2. Noun. The blowhole of a whale. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Spiracle

1. an orifice through which breathing occurs [n -S]

Medical Definition of Spiracle

1. 1. The nostril, or one of the nostrils, of whales, porpoises, and allied animals. 2. One of the external openings communicating with the air tubes or tracheae of insects, myriapods, and arachnids. They are variable in number, and are usually situated on the sides of the thorax and abdomen, a pair to a segment. These openings are usually elliptical, and capable of being closed. A tubular orifice communicating with the gill cavity of certain ganoid and all elasmobranch fishes. It is the modified first gill cleft. 3. Any small aperture or vent for air or other fluid. Origin: L. Spiraculum, fr. Spirare to breathe: cf. F. Spiracule. See Spirit. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Spiracle

Literary usage of Spiracle

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation by James William Tutt, Malcolm Burr (1890)
"4-5). dark mahogany-brown with raised chitinous walls ; that on the pro- position the spiracle on the prothorax is about midway between dorsal thorax is ..."

2. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1907)
"210) states that water usually enters the mouth through the spiracle, ... According to my observations the skate takes in water not only by the spiracle ..."

3. Evenings at the Microscope: Or, Researches Among the Minuter Organs and by Philip Henry Gosse (1860)
"spiracle OF LEATHER-COAT. In many of the two-winged flies, which inhabit the ... spiracle OF COCKCHAFER-GRUB. Here is a slender worm, an inch and a half in ..."

4. Evenings at the Microscope: Or, Researches Among the Munuter Organs and by Philip Henry Gosse (1896)
"spiracle OF LEATHER-COAT. In many of the two-winged flies, which inhabit the ... spiracle OF COCKCHAFER-GRUB. Here is a slender worm, an inch and a half in ..."

5. The Microscope: And Its Revelations by William Benjamin Carpenter (1856)
"... are filtered out; and this sieve may be formed by the interlacement of the branches of minute arborescent growths from the borders of the spiracle, ..."

6. A Natural History of the British Lepidoptera: A Text-book for Students and by James William Tutt (1906)
"On the abdominal segments i and ii are distinct, but very close together; iii ie close above the spiracle. The 2nd and 5th abdominals have the curious ..."

7. An Introduction to Entomology by John Henry Comstock, Anna Botsford Comstock (1888)
"There is a short trunk arising from each spiracle ; these are all connected together by a large longitudinal trunk on each side of the body, and by numerous ..."

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