Ten"don (?), n. [F., fr. L. tendere to stretch, extend. See Tend to
move.] (Anat.) A tough insensible cord, bundle, or band of fibrous
connective tissue uniting a muscle with some other part; a sinew.
Tendon reflex (Physiol.), a kind of reflex act in which a muscle is
made to contract by a blow upon its tendon. Its absence is generally a
sign of disease. See Knee jerk, under Knee.
Ten"don*ous (?), a. Tendinous.
||Ten`do*syn`o*vi"tis (?), n. [NL. See Tendon, and Synovitis.] See
||Tenosynovitis.
||
Ten"drac (?), n. [See Tenrec.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of
small insectivores of the family Centetidæ, belonging to Ericulus,
Echinope, and related genera, native of Madagascar. They are more or
less spinose and resemble the hedgehog in habits. The rice tendrac
(Oryzorictes hora) is very injurious to rice crops. Some of the species
are called also tenrec.
Ten"dril (?), n. [Shortened fr. OF. tendrillon, fr. F. tendre tender;
hence, properly, the tender branch or spring of a plant: cf. F.
tendrille. See Tender, a., and cf. Tendron.] (Bot.) A slender, leafless
portion of a plant by which it becomes attached to a supporting body,
after which the tendril usually contracts by coiling spirally.
Tendrils may represent the end of a stem, as in the grapevine; an
axillary branch, as in the passion flower; stipules, as in the genus
Smilax; or the end of a leaf, as in the pea.
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Ten"dril (?), a. Clasping; climbing as a tendril. [R.] Dyer.
{ Ten"driled, Ten"drilled } (?), a. (Bot.) Furnished with tendrils, or
with such or so many, tendrils. "The thousand tendriled vine." Southey.
Ten"dron (?), n. [F. Cf. Tendril.] A tendril. [Obs.] Holland.
Ten"dry (?), n. A tender; an offer. [Obs.] Heylin.