WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Cir"rus
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [L., lock, curl, ringlet.] [Also written cirrhus.]
Definition : 1. (Bot.)

Defn: A tendril or clasper.

2. (Zo?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?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?l.)

Defn: The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca.

4. (Meteor.)

Defn: See under Cloud.

pl. Cirri.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913