devil's fingers
English
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a common starfish or devil's fingers, Asterias rubens
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a crab (infraorder Brachyura) with shell partially removed and gill masses or devil's fingers indicated
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devil's fingers fungus, Clathrus archeri, in Ulm, Germany
Noun
devil's fingers pl (normally plural, singular devil's finger)
- (archaic or rare) [19th century] A starfish, especially Asterias rubens.
- Synonym: sea star
- 1876, George L. Austin, “Poetical Zoölogy”, in Appleton’s Journal, page 144:
- In Ireland, and elsewhere, there exists a common species of starfish known as the “devil’s hands,” or the “devil’s fingers,” and children have a superstitious dread of touching them.
- 1902, F. Martin Duncan, “The Artful Starfish”, in The Royal Magazine, volume 10, page 327:
- Its peculiar shape has gained the starfish many names even round the coasts of Great Britain, such as “crossfish,” “sunfish,” “old five fingers,” “five-fingered Jack,” “cramps,” and “devil’s hand” or “devil’s fingers.”
- (informal, US) The gills of various species of crabs.
- Synonyms: dead men's fingers, dead men
- 1992 June 21, Rob Kasper, “To cut, or not to cut, the mustard”, in The Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, page 1G:
- I removed the underside of the crab called its apron. I opened it up and removed the gills or “devil’s fingers.” And I removed its eyes and mouth.
- 2001 June 6, Patricia Talorico, “Just forget that it’s a whole crab; take a bite and enjoy that flavor”, in The News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware, page D1:
- Next, remove the apron from the underside of the crab. Finally, Curtis says, you’ll need to lift up each side of the shell and remove the gills or the “devil’s fingers.”
- 2007 August 3, John Geiser, “Take rusties over jimmies when hunting for good-eatin’ crabs”, in Asbury Park Press, Asbury Park, New Jersey:
- Once the shell is off, the crab’s gills or lungs, variously called “devil’s fingers” or “dead men” are exposed. These are gray-white, feathery-looking parts that are inedible and must be scraped off and thrown away.
- A fungus, Clathrus archeri, featuring pink or white 'arms' erupting from a white ball-like body, with a putrid odor.
- Synonym: octopus stinkhorn
- 2006 October 21, Peter Marren, “Day of the fungi”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 15:
- In North America, and increasingly in gardens in southern England, the bizarre Devil’s Fingers, Clathrus archeri, is enlivening our autumns. The first sign of it is usually a horrible stink like rotten meat. A little poking around in the shrubbery should reveal its science fiction-like body, resembling slimy scarlet tentacles emerging from a half-buried egg.
- 2014 December 20, “Two rare fungi found on Devon wildlife sites”, in The Western Morning News, Plymouth, England, page 4:
- Specimens of the aptly named devil’s fingers and the coral-like hazel gloves were spotted nestling in the undergrowth at Devon Wildlife Trust sites.
- 2021 September 17, Faith Pring, “Weird fungus known as ‘devil’s fingers’ found in city”, in Derby Evening Telegraph, page 20:
- “Devil’s fingers”, also known as Clathrus Archeri, were first spotted in the UK in 1914, and tend to favour moist and shaded areas of wood chips.
- plural of devil's finger (“cephalopod of the order Belemnitida”)
- Synonyms: belemnite, fingerstone
Further reading
Common starfish on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Clathrus archeri on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
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