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.
Tendril
(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.
Tendril
(Ten"dril) a. Clasping; climbing as a tendril. [R.] Dyer.
Tendriled
(Ten"driled, Ten"drilled) a. (Bot.) Furnished with tendrils, or with such or so many, tendrils.
"The thousand tendriled vine." Southey.
Tendron
(Ten"dron) n. [F. Cf. Tendril.] A tendril. [Obs.] Holland.
Tendry
(Ten"dry) n. A tender; an offer. [Obs.] Heylin.
Tene
(Tene) n. & v. See 1st and 2d Teen. [Obs.]
Tenebræ
(||Ten"e*bræ) n. [L., pl., darkness.] (R. C. Ch.) The matins and lauds for the last three days
of Holy Week, commemorating the sufferings and death of Christ, — usually sung on the afternoon or
evening of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, instead of on the following days.
Tenebricose
(Te*neb"ri*cose`) a. [L. tenebricosus.] Tenebrous; dark; gloomy. [Obs.]
Tenebrific
(Ten`e*brif"ic) a. [L. tenebrae darkness + facere to make.] Rendering dark or gloomy; tenebrous; gloomy.
It lightens, it brightens,
The tenebrific scene.
Burns.
Where light
Lay fitful in a tenebrific time.
R. Browning. Tenebrificous
(Ten`e*brif"ic*ous) a. Tenebrific.
Authors who are tenebrificous stars.
Addison. Tenebrious
(Te*ne"bri*ous) a. Tenebrous. Young.
Tenebrose
(Ten"e*brose`) a. Characterized by darkness or gloom; tenebrous.
Tenebrosity
(Ten`e*bros"i*ty) n. The quality or state of being tenebrous; tenebrousness. Burton.
Tenebrous
(Ten"e*brous) a. [L. tenebrosus, fr. tenebrae darkness: cf. F. ténébreux.] Dark; gloomy; dusky; tenebrious.
— Ten"e*brous*ness, n.
The most dark, tenebrous night.
J. Hall
The towering and tenebrous boughts of the cypress.
Longfellow. Tenement
(Ten"e*ment) n. [OF. tenement a holding, a fief, F. tènement, LL. tenementum, fr. L. tenere
to hold. See Tenant.]
1. (Feud. Law) That which is held of another by service; property which one holds of a lord or proprietor
in consideration of some military or pecuniary service; fief; fee.
