Long, flexible arm-like structures on some sea creatures like octopuses and squid, used for feeling, grabbing, and moving around.
From Latin 'tentaculum' meaning 'feeler,' derived from 'tentare' (to touch or try). The word entered English in the 1700s as people learned more about sea creatures.
Octopuses have nine brains—one in each tentacle plus a central one—so each arm can taste and touch independently. That's why 'tentacles' became a metaphor in science fiction for sinister control, because they're so creepily intelligent and coordinated.
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