tendril

noun

ten·​dril ˈten-drəl 

1

: a leaf, stipule, or stem modified into a slender spirally coiling sensitive organ serving to attach a climbing plant to its support

2

: something suggestive of a tendril

creeping tendrils of fog

tendriled adjective

or tendrilled

ˈten-drəld 

tendrilous

ˈten-drə-ləs 

adjective

Illustration of tendril

• tendril 1

Examples of tendril in a Sentence

A few tendrils of hair framed her face.

Recent Examples on the Web

Weiser, a farm known especially for its melons, was offering lush bouquets of pea shoots, delicate white flowers and crisp, shapely pods sprouting from curling tendrils, pretty enough to display in a vase. —Shauna Lyon, New Yorker, 4 July 2025

Wisps of black hair escape from her baseball cap, framing her face with soft tendrils. —Rachel Raposas, People.com, 30 June 2025

Revealing this hitherto undiscovered tendril of hot matter connecting galaxy clusters has the potential to aid scientists' understanding of these extreme structures and how they are connected across vast cosmic distances. —Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 June 2025

It’s even followed by trails of gas and young stars, extending just like jellyfish tendrils. —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably modification of Middle French tendron bud, cartilage, alteration of Old French tenrum, from Vulgar Latin *tenerumen, from Latin tener tender — more at tender entry 1

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

tendril

noun

ten·​dril ˈten-drəl 

1

: a slender leafless winding stem by which some climbing plants fasten themselves to a support

2

: something that curls like a tendril

tendrils of hair