noun Botany.
- a threadlike, leafless organ of climbing plants, often growing in spiral form, which attaches itself to or twines round some other body, so as to support the plant.
noun
- a specialized threadlike part of a leaf or stem that attaches climbing plants to a support by twining or adhering
- something resembling a tendril, such as a wisp of hair
n.1530s, from Middle French tendrillon “bud, shoot, cartilage,” perhaps a diminutive of tendron “cartilage,” from Old French tendre “soft” (see tender (adj.)), or else from Latin tendere “to stretch, extend” (see tender (v.)).
- A slender, coiling plant part, often a modified leaf or leaf part, that helps support the stem of some climbing angiosperms by clinging to or winding around an object. Peas, squash, and grapes produce tendrils.