tentacle

Universal Words noun 1 [C] a long thin part of the body of some creatures, such as an OCTOPUS, used for feeling or holding things, for moving or for getting food: (figurative) Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 2 (tentacles) [pl.] (usually disapproving) the influence that a large place, organization or system has and that is hard to avoid: The tentacles of satellite television are spreading even wider.