tendril

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a slender, curling part of a climbing plant that coils around a support

   A pea tendril wrapped tightly around the garden wire.

2. 2
   noun

   a thin curling strand of hair, smoke, mist, or something similar

   A tendril of smoke rose from the dying candle.

Borrowed from French tendrillon ('young shoot, bud'), probably a diminutive related to tendre ('tender, soft'), though influence from Latin tendere ('to stretch') has also been proposed. The figurative sense extends the plant's thin curling form to hair, smoke, mist, and similar strands.

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