spinulescent

[Mod. Lat. spinules cens, from Lat. spinula =a little thorn.] Bot. Having a tendency to produce small spines. spin-u-lōse, †spin'-u-loŭs, adj. [Mod. Latin spinulosus, from spinula =a little thorn.] Bot.: Covered with small spines. spin-u-lō-sō-, pref. [SPINULOSE.] Covered with small spines. spinuloso-ciliate, a. spiral *II. Fig .: Thorny, perplexing, difficult, troublesome. "So difficult and spiny an affair."-Digby: On Bodies. spiny-finned fishes, s. pl. Ichthy.: The Acanthopterygii (q. v.). spiny-lobster, s. Zool.: Palinurus vulgar is. (ROCK-LOBSTER.] spiny-rat, s. Zool.: The genus Echinomys, small rodents from the country east of the Andes and some of the West Indian islands. The fur is mixed with small spines, whence their scientific and popular name. spi-ō, subst. [Lat.=a sea nymph in the train of Cyrene.] Zoology: The typical genus of Spionide (q. v.). Body long, slender, tapering, with sixty joints, terminating in two short styles; head with long pale, with pink cirri. It occupies a very slender tube composed of adventitious matter, slightly agglutinated, and placed on sertularian zoophytes. *spi-on, s. [O. Fr. espion .] A spy, a scout. "Captain of the spions ." - Heywood .