[ad. L. barbula; see prec.]

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  1.  = BARBEL 2. (So in med.L.)

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1848.  S. Maunder, Treas. Nat. Hist., Gloss., Barbules, filamentous appendages … attached to the mouths of certain fishes.

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1872.  Baker, Nile Tribut., ix. 146. This fish has four long barbules in the upper jaw.

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  2.  One of the series of pointed, and sometimes serrated or hooked, processes, fringing the barbs of a feather, and filling up the space between them.

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1835.  Todd, Cycl. Anat. & Phys., I. 350/2. The barbules are given off from either side of the barbs.

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1869.  Gillmore, trans. Figuier’s Reptiles & Birds, Introd. 185. These smaller filaments are the barbules, by means of which the barbs are retained in position.

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  3.  Bot. = BARBULA 2.

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1881.  in Syd. Soc. Lex.

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