Definition of Probascis
Pro*bos"cis (?), n.; pl.
Proboscides (#). [L. fr. Gr. &?;; &?; before + &?;
to feed, graze.] 1. (Zoöl.) A hollow
organ or tube attached to the head, or connected with the mouth, of
various animals, and generally used in taking food or drink; a snout;
a trunk.
&fist; The proboscis of an elephant is a flexible muscular
elongation of the nose. The proboscis of insects is usually a
chitinous tube formed by the modified maxillæ, or by the labium.
See Illusts. of Hemiptera and Lepidoptera.
2. (Zoöl.) By extension, applied
to various tubelike mouth organs of the lower animals that can be
everted or protruded.
&fist; The proboscis of annelids and of mollusks is usually a
portion of the pharynx that can be everted or protruded. That of
nemerteans is a special long internal organ, not connected with the
mouth, and not used in feeding, but capable of being protruded from a
pore in the head. See Illust. in Appendix.
3. The nose. [Jocose]
Proboscis monkey. (Zoöl.) See
Kahau.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
PROBOSCIS, n. The rudimentary organ of an elephant which serves him
in place of the knife-and-fork that Evolution has as yet denied him.
For purposes of humor it is popularly called a trunk.
Asked how he knew that an elephant was going on a journey, the
illustrious Jo. Miller cast a reproachful look upon his tormentor, and
answered, absently: "When it is ajar," and threw himself from a high
promontory into the sea. Thus perished in his pride the most famous
humorist of antiquity, leaving to mankind a heritage of woe! No
successor worthy of the title has appeared, though Mr. Edward Bok, of
The Ladies' Home Journal, is much respected for the purity and
sweetness of his personal character.
- 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
- (anatomy) An elongated tube from the head or connected to the mouth, of an animal.
- # The tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates like insects, worms and molluscs.
- # The trunk of an elephant.
- Informally, a large human nose.
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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