[a. med.L. suspensor, agent-n. f. L. suspens-, suspendĕre: see SUSPENSE and -OR. Cf. F. suspenseur.]
† 1. Surg. a. A kind of catheter: see quot. Obs.
1746. trans. Le Cat, in Phil. Trans., XLIV. 178. I slipt over it the strait Suspensor (a Catheter that opens with a Bow) and dilated the Bladder with the Incision Knife, towards the Pubis, and introduced the lateral Suspensors.
b. A suspensory bandage.
[1803. J. Fox, Med. Dict., Suspensor, a bandage to suspend the scrotum.]
1896. Daily News, 14 Dec., 8/2. Electric Belt and Suspensor for Men.
2. Bot. The filament by which the embryo is suspended in the seed of phanerogams; also applied to a similar structure in some cryptogams.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 159. A very delicate thread, the suspensor, descends from the summit of the ovulum into the quintine.
1879. A. W. Bennett, in Jrnl. Bot., March, 67. The pro-embryo or suspensor (Vorkeim) of Phanerogams.
3. gen. That by which something is suspended.
1874. H. H. Cole, Catal. Ind. Art S. Kens. Mus., 192. Neck Ornament…. Silver-gilt, circular, flower-shaped,… the suspensor formed of twisted … gold thread.
