Definitions for: Cirrus


[n] a slender flexible animal appendage as on barnacles or crinoids or many insects; often tactile
[n] a wispy white cloud (usually of fine ice crystals) at a high altitude (4 to 8 miles)
[n] usually coiled



Webster (1913) Definition: Cir"rus, n.; pl. Cirri. [L., lock, curl, ringlet.]
[Also written cirrhus.]
1. (Bot.) A tendril or clasper.

2. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A soft tactile appendage of the mantle of many
Mollusca, and of the parapodia of Annelida. Those near
the head of annelids are Tentacular cirri; those of
the last segment are caudal cirri.
(b) The jointed, leglike organs of Cirripedia. See
Annelida, and Polych[ae]ta.

Note: In some of the inferior animals the cirri aid in
locomotion; in others they are used in feeding; in the
Annelida they are mostly organs of touch. Some cirri
are branchial in function.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The external male organ of trematodes and some
other worms, and of certain Mollusca.

4. (Meteor.) See under Cloud.

Synonyms: cirrhus, cirrus cloud

See Also: appendage, cloud, mare's tail, outgrowth, process, tendril

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