Nautili

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Nautilus \Nau"ti*lus\, n.; pl. E. {Nautiluses}, L. {Nautili}.
     [L., fr. Gr. nayti`los a seaman, sailor, a kind of shellfish
     which was supposed to be furnished with a membrane which
     served as a sail; fr. nay^s ship. See {Nave} of a church.]
     1. (Zool.) The only existing genus of tetrabranchiate
        cephalopods. About four species are found living in the


        tropical Pacific, but many other species are found fossil.
        The shell is spiral, symmetrical, and chambered, or
        divided into several cavities by simple curved partitions,
        which are traversed and connected together by a continuous
        and nearly central tube or siphuncle. See
        {Tetrabranchiata}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The head of the animal bears numerous simple tapered
           arms, or tentacles, arranged in groups, but not
           furnished with suckers. The siphon, unlike, that of
           ordinary cephalopods, is not a closed tube, and is not
           used as a locomotive organ, but merely serves to
           conduct water to and from the gill cavity, which
           contains two pairs of gills. The animal occupies only
           the outer chamber of the shell; the others are filled
           with gas. It creeps over the bottom of the sea, not
           coming to the surface to swim or sail, as was formerly
           imagined.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The argonaut; -- also called {paper nautilus}. See
        {Argonauta}, and {Paper nautilus}, under {Paper}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A variety of diving bell, the lateral as well as vertical
        motions of which are controlled, by the occupants.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  nautilus
       n 1: a submarine that is propelled by nuclear power [syn: {nuclear
            submarine}, {nuclear-powered submarine}]
       2: cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate
          papery spiral shells [syn: {paper nautilus}, {Argonaut}, {Argonauta
          argo}]
       3: cephalopod of the Indian and Pacific oceans having a spiral
          shell with pale pearly partitions [syn: {chambered
          nautilus}, {pearly nautilus}]
       [also: {nautili} (pl)]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  nautili
       See {nautilus}