cirrus

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: cir=rus

CIDE DICTIONARY

cirrus, n. [L., lock, curl, ringlet.].

•  A tendril or clasper.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]
•  The external male organ of trematodes and some other worms, and of certain Mollusca.  [1913 Webster]
•  See under Cloud.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

cirrus, n. (pl. cirri)
1 Meteorol. a form of white wispy cloud, esp. at high altitude.
2 Bot. a tendril.
3 Zool. a long slender appendage or filament.

Derivative

cirrose adj. cirrous adj.

Etymology

L, = curl

THESAURUS

cirrus

Cloudcuckooland, alto-cumulus, alto-stratus, animal fiber, anvil cloud, artificial fiber, banner cloud, billowy cloud, cap cloud, capillament, cilium, cirro-cumulus, cirro-fillum, cirro-nebula, cirro-stratus, cirro-velum, cirrus cloud, cirrus haze, cirrus stripe, cloud, cloud band, cloud bank, cloud drift, cloud mass, cloud street, cloudland, cloudling, cloudscape, cobweb, cocktail, coil, corkscrew, cottony cloud, cumulo-cirro-stratus, cumulo-cirrus, cumulo-nimbus, cumulo-stratus, cumulus, cumulus cloud, curl, curl cloud, curlicue, denier, evolute, fiber, fibrilla, filament, filamentule, flagellum, fleecy cloud, fractocumulus, gossamer, gyre, hair, hank, helix, high fog, involute, kink, mackerel sky, mammatocumulus, mushroom cloud, nimbus, nimbus cloud, rain cloud, ringlet, roll, screw, scroll, scud, skein, snail cloud, spiral, squall cloud, storm cloud, strand, strato-cumulus, stratus, stratus cloud, suture, swirl, tendril, thread, threadlet, thundercloud, thunderhead, twirl, twist, volute, volution, vortex, water carrier, web, whirl, whorl, woolpack

ROGET THESAURUS

cirrus

Bubble

N bubble; cloud, bubble, foam, froth, head, spume, lather, suds, spray, surf, yeast, barm, spindrift, cloud, vapor, fog, mist, haze, steam, geyser, scud, messenger, rack, nimbus, cumulus, woolpack, cirrus, stratus, cirrostratus, cumulostratus, cirrocumulus, mackerel sky, mare's tale, dirty sky, curl cloud, frost smoke, thunderhead, nephelognosy, nephograph, nephology, effervescence, fermentation, bubbling, nebula, cloudliness, nebulosity, bubbling, frothy, nappy, effervescent, sparkling, mousseux, frothy, up, cloudy, thunderheaded, vaporous, nebulous, overcast, the lowring element scowls o'er the darkened lands.