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

Musashi clears the tendril, enters another battle, and parries the Genma with ease. —Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 11 June 2025

But computer simulations show that there are filaments and tendrils of dark matter crisscrossing the voids like a faint echo of the grand cosmic web, repeating itself in miniature. —Paul Sutter, Space.com, 6 June 2025

One is a mass of tiny, twisting tendrils wriggling through one of the city's mainline. —Sara Netzley, EW.com, 14 Apr. 2025

These technologies are meticulously governed by various command-and-control constructs across public and private clouds, on-premises and extending tendrils out to the edge on PCs. —Clint Boulton, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 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