retractile

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The fore-feet have five toes, the hind-feet four or five; the claws are strong, blunt, and formed for digging, and are not retractile.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various

The single prosthomere carries the retractile tentacles as its “parapodia.”

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

Mantle oval, covering the head and the greater part of the body; anterior tentacles, ill-developed; branchiae generally retractile.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Sem′i-recon′dite, half-hidden; Sem′i-rē′flex, involuntarily performed, but not entirely independent of the will; Sem′i-reg′ular, pertaining to a quadrilateral having four equal sides, but only pairs of equal angles; Sem′i-retrac′tile, retractile to some extent.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

The reader will remember that in the Vorticella previously described, the bells stood upon stalks that were very flexible, and retractile by means of a muscle running down their length.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.