Meaning & use
spicules
Last updated
Small, needle-like structures, such as the hard skeletal elements in sponges or the short-lived jets of gas on the sun's surface.
See it in a sentence
Under the microscope, the sponge's spicules formed a delicate glassy lattice.
Astronomers observed thousands of spicules jetting from the sun's chromosphere.
A note on using this word
The term is used across very different fields, from marine biology to solar astronomy, always describing thin, needle-shaped structures.
Words with a similar meaning
needlesspines
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