How to Use proboscis in a Sentence

proboscis

noun

• Beware: That proboscis of theirs can leave a painful nip.
  — Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 11 July 2017
• The hawk moth, with its ultra-long proboscis, will stop by for a nectar snack.
  — Paris Wolfe, cleveland, 27 Jan. 2023
• The males’ large trunk-like nose, called a proboscis, helps them produce their signature sound and is the namesake for the species.
  — Jesse Ryan, USA TODAY, 11 May 2017
• The bees soon cut several holes in the leaves of each plant using their mandibles and proboscises.
  — Jim Daley, Scientific American, 21 May 2020
• To initiate feeding, the first pump opens to lower the pressure and draw the blood up into the proboscis.
  — Popular Science, 20 Oct. 2020
• The partially prehensile proboscis helps the species probe the ground for leaves and fallen fruit.
  — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 3 July 2018
• Mosquitoes use their proboscis, or part of their mouth, to cut the skin and get to the capillaries or veins to fill up with blood.
  — USA TODAY, 7 June 2023
• The assassin bug's deadly proboscis is both sword and siphon.
  — smithsonianmag.com, 2 May 2017
• The assassin bug's deadly proboscis is both sword and siphon.
  — smithsonianmag.com, 30 Sep. 2017
• About 21 years later, the African hawkmoth was discovered with a foot-long, straw-like mouth called a proboscis.
  — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2020
• This 1996 Daihatsu with its googly eyes and big spare-tire proboscis is a recent import to the U.S.
  — Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 17 Feb. 2022
• Ideally, the nectar will attract a moth, which will elongate its tongue-like proboscis and stick its head into the tube.
  — Douglas Main, National Geographic, 11 July 2019
• Nienaber walked it over to a plant, and the monarch soon unfurled its proboscis into a flower, drawing nectar.
  — Rohan Preston, Star Tribune, 22 Jan. 2021
• Its eyes are at the bottom; its antennae, proboscis and legs are folded up along its stomach.
  — Lisa Raffensperger, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2013
• During the feeding process, the female mosquito uses a mouthpart called the proboscis—which is also used to feed on flowers—to pierce the skin and feed on the blood.
  — Eleesha Lockett, SELF, 8 June 2022
• This implies that Macrauchenia may have had a mobile proboscis, as pictured here.
  — Josh Rosenblatt, Fox News, 28 June 2017
• The spines of a cactus, the proboscis of a mosquito, the quills of a porcupine: straight, pointed objects serve a plethora of functions in nature.
  — Scott Hershberger, Scientific American, 6 July 2020
• The mosquitoes didn’t have enough force to push their needle-like proboscis through the graphene oxide, which protected the volunteers.
  — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 20 Aug. 2019
• Having a big nose: structure, ontogeny, and function of the elephant seal proboscis.
  — Darren Naish, Scientific American Blog Network, 3 June 2017
• On Adam’s computer screen, the ship now looked like a robotic housefly, its proboscis probing toward an enormous, crumbly piece of gray bread.
  — Chris Wright, Wired, 8 June 2020
• While one tube in the proboscis draws blood, a second pumps in saliva containing a mild painkiller and an anti-coagulant.
  — Karen Farkas, cleveland.com, 17 May 2017
• Just about every butterfly and moth that has hollow scales today has a proboscis, Mr. van Eldijk said.
  — Nicholas St. Fleur, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2018
• When the researchers dabbed the bitter compound on the flies’ proboscis, neurons with their opsins intact sent off nearly 20 impulses per second.
  — Mitch Leslie, Science | AAAS, 2 Apr. 2020
• Often, the single eyeball stared unnervingly out from the middle of the face, sometimes with a fleshy forehead proboscis above it — a nose at once displaced and deformed.
  — Eric Boodman, STAT, 23 Oct. 2019
• These rare orchids have long nectar tubes into which moths stick their tonguelike proboscises to reach a sugary reward.
  — National Geographic, 22 July 2019
• Armed with a sharp proboscis, immobilizing venom, large compound eyes to locate prey and wings to maneuver through the air.
  — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 5 Feb. 2023
• The scientists suspected that the insect’s proboscis wouldn’t be able to penetrate the graphene barrier.
  — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 20 Aug. 2019
• Some are straightforward paralytics released from a hooked tooth held at the proboscis’s end, which certain snails will launch like a harpoon at hapless fish.
  — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2021
• Here’s an image of the rare Dendrophylax lindenii, with its long nectar tubes, into which moths stick their tonguelike proboscises.
  — National Geographic, 31 Oct. 2019
• Whichever way a hungry bee turned her head first—sticking out her proboscis in search of sugar water—indicated her choice.
  — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 3 Feb. 2015

Last Updated: 27 Jun 2024