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Glite Dictionary
protractible

protractible

9.6
A part of an animal you can push or pull out to make longer
  • adjective
  • /prəˈtræktəbl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : protractil
  • Some species of lizards possess protractible tongues that can be extended to catch insects.

Examples

  • The starfish has a protractible tube foot that it uses to move along the ocean floor.

  • The frog's protractible limbs help it leap great distances when escaping predators.

  • But it can no longer literally illustrate the ability of the visual rays to be "a body that is protractible to the sky and expandable to the length of half of the heavens," as it is in Francesco da Barberino's work.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

protractile
vsprotractible
  • Specialized
9.9

Can move forward and stick out, like a tongue or mouth

is the general term for being extended or drawn out in animals
protrusile
vsprotractible
  • Specialized
9.9

Able to move forward or stick out, like a tongue

is the broader word used for muscles or parts that lengthen or protrude
protrusible
vsprotractible
  • Specialized
9.9

Able to stick out from the body like a tongue or jaw

is used generally for extendable parts but without stressing excess extension

Surface Forms

protractible positive

Morphology

protractible = protract (transparent) = protract + ible

Formed by adding the productive adjectival suffix 'ible' to the verb 'protract', yielding a predictable meaning 'able to be protracted'.

Etymology

Protractible comes from the parts pro- meaning 'forward' and tract meaning 'to pull' or 'to draw', the same root you see in tractor. So something protractible can be 'pulled forward' or stretched out, like a snail's feeding tube or a lizard's tongue.