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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Proboscis \Pro*bos"cis\, noun; pl. {Proboscides}. [L. fr. Gr. ?; ? before + ? to feed, graze.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) A hollow organ or tube attached to the head, or connected with the mouth, of various animals, and generally used in taking food or drink; a snout; a trunk.
Note: The proboscis of an elephant is a flexible muscular elongation of the nose. The proboscis of insects is usually a chitinous tube formed by the modified maxill[ae], or by the labium. See Illusts. of {Hemiptera} and {Lepidoptera}.
2. (Zo["o]l.) By extension, applied to various tubelike mouth organs of the lower animals that can be everted or protruded.
Note: The proboscis of annelids and of mollusks is usually a portion of the pharynx that can be everted or protruded. That of nemerteans is a special long internal organ, not connected with the mouth, and not used in feeding, but capable of being protruded from a pore in the head. See Illust. in Appendix.
3. The nose. [Jocose]
{Proboscis monkey}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Kahau}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
proboscis
noun
1: the human nose (especially when it is large)
2: a long flexible snout as of an elephant [syn: {trunk}] [also: {proboscides} (pl)]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
23 Moby Thesaurus words for "proboscis": antlia, beak, beezer, bill, bugle, conk, muffle, muzzle, nares, neb, nib, nose, nostrils, nozzle, olfactory organ, pecker, rhinarium, rostrum, schnozzle, smeller, snoot, snout, trunk
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
PROBOSCIS, noun The rudimentary organ of an elephant which serves him in place of the knife-and-fork that Evolution has as yet denied him. For purposes of humor it is popularly called a trunk. Asked how he knew that an elephant was going on a journey, the illustrious Jo. Miller cast a reproachful look upon his tormentor, and answered, absently: "When it is ajar," and threw himself from a high promontory into the sea. Thus perished in his pride the most famous humorist of antiquity, leaving to mankind a heritage of woe! No successor worthy of the title has appeared, though Mr. Edward bok, of _The Ladies' Home Journal_, is much respected for the purity and sweetness of his personal character.
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