About The Word Elater
Learn about the word Elater to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Elater definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.
Elater
| Elater Definition And Meaning |
|---|
What's The Definition Of Elater?
[n] any of various widely distributed beetles
Synonyms | Synonyms for Elater: elaterid | elaterid beetle Related Terms | Find terms related to Elater: See Also | beetle | click beetle | Elateridae | family Elateridae | fire beetle | firefly | Pyrophorus noctiluca | skipjack | snapping beetle Elater In Webster's Dictionary \E*lat"er\, n.
One who, or that which, elates.
\El"a*ter\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? driver, fr. ? to drive.] 1. (Bot.) An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts. 2. (Zo["o]l.) Any beetle of the family {Elaterid[ae]}, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; -- called also {click beetle}, {spring beetle}, and {snapping beetle}. 3. (Zo["o]l.) The caudal spring used by {Podura} and related insects for leaping. See {Collembola}. \El"a*ter\, n. (Chem.) The active principle of elaterium, being found in the juice of the wild or squirting cucumber ({Ecballium agreste}, formerly {Motordica Elaterium}) and other related species. It is extracted as a bitter, white, crystalline substance, which is a violent purgative. |
More Crossword Puzzle Words
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Cross Word Of The Day
- Specular ‐ capable of reflecting light like a mirror; "mirrorlike surface…
- Timor ‐ an island in Indonesia in the Malay Archipelago; the largest…
- Guyot ‐ a seamount of volcanic origin (especially in the…
- Marginal placentation ‐ with ovules borne on the wall along the ventral suture of a simple…
- Genus euarctos ‐ American black bears; in some classifications not a separate…
- Gravitational attraction ‐ (physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe;…
- Family endamoebidae ‐ a large family of endoparasitic amebas that invade the digestive…
- Ball field ‐ the baseball…
- Glottis spuria ‐ the opening between the false…
- Vena vestibularis ‐ veins that drain the saccule…