dorsal vessel

Entom.: In insects, a long blood-ve el or heart lying along the back of the insect, through which the nutritive fluid circulates. "He laye still lyke a dormouse, nothynge doynge." - dorsale tapestry, from Lat. dorsum the back, Hall: Henry VI. (an. 7.) *B. As adj .: Dormant. "She did show favor to the youth in your sight, only to exasperate you, to awake your dormouse valor."Shakesp.: Twelfth Night , iii. 2.