spicule

American  

[spik-yool] / ˈspɪk yul /

noun

1. a small or minute, slender, sharp-pointed body or part; a small, needlelike crystal, process, or the like.

2. Zoology.  one of the small, hard, calcareous or siliceous bodies that serve as the skeletal elements of various marine and freshwater invertebrates.

3. Astronomy.  a jet of gas several hundred miles in diameter rising from the sun's surface to heights of 3,000 to 6,000 miles (4,800 to 9,600 km).

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spicule British  

/ ˈspɪkjuːl, -lɪt, ˈspɪkjʊˌleɪt /

noun

1. Also called: spiculum.  a small slender pointed structure or crystal, esp any of the calcareous or siliceous elements of the skeleton of sponges, corals, etc

2. astronomy a spiked ejection of hot gas occurring over 5000 kilometres above the sun's surface (in its atmosphere) and having a diameter of about 1000 kilometres

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spicule Scientific  

/ spĭk′yo̅o̅l /

1. A needlelike structure or part, such as one of the mineral structures supporting the soft tissue of certain invertebrates, especially sponges.

2. Any of numerous short-lived vertical jets of hot gas rising from the solar chromosphere and extending into the corona. Spicules, which only last for about five to ten minutes, are usually several hundred kilometers wide and several thousand kilometers high.

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Other Word Forms

• spiculate adjective

Etymology

Origin of spicule

First recorded in 1775–85; from Latin spīculum “spearhead, arrowhead, bee stinger,” equivalent to spīc(a) “ear of grain” + -ulum diminutive suffix; spica, -ule

Example Sentences

Among and between the animals are interwoven trails of spicules, skeleton-like structures shed by the sponges.

From New York Times

Instead the scientists believe that the sponges stick their spicules into the ground and then slowly pull their bodies forward.

From Salon

Another possibility is that the sponges move to disperse their offspring, or that they build spicule trails to provide sponge larvae with surfaces to settle on.

From Science Magazine

He saw spicules of coalesced matter — “radiobes,” as he called them — that resembled, to his eyes, the most primeval forms of life.

From New York Times

She expects “to see what they call deep-sea ‘coral gardens,’” which include spindly bamboo corals and glass sponges, which have glasslike structural spicules made of silica.

From Science Magazine