ELATER • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Elater

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/ˈɛlətər/ /ˈɪleɪtər/ Listen

noun

Elater n. One who, or that which, elates.

Elater n.

(Bot.) An elastic spiral filament for dispersing the spores, as in some liverworts.

(Zoöl.) Any beetle of the family Elateridae, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; called also click beetle, spring beetle, and snapping beetle.

(Zoöl.) The caudal spring used by Podura and related insects for leaping. See Collembola.

Elater n. (Chem.) The active principle of elaterium, being found in the juice of the wild or squirting cucumber (Ecballium agreste, formerly Motordica Elaterium) and other related species. It is extracted as a bitter, white, crystalline substance, which is a violent purgative.

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Etymology of 'Elater'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Elater" Quotes from Famous Books

... generally very uniform in thickness, distance from each other, and pitch, and in many species are further reenforced by minute longitudinal plications running from one spiral to the next. Furthermore, the spirals may be smooth or spinulose the elater uniform throughout or enlarged betimes by nodes and swellings. Taken altogether, the trichias with the species of the genus next following exhibit the highest degree of differentiation attained by ...

— The North American Slime-Moulds • Thomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride