1. a gas-filled float or air sac that helps certain marine organisms stay buoyant
Usage: biology
2. a specialized root that grows upward from waterlogged soil to obtain oxygen
Usage: botany

Examples

• The Portuguese man o’ war uses its pneumatophore to float on the ocean surface.
• Mangrove trees develop pneumatophores to survive in oxygen-poor swamp conditions.
• The jellyfish’s pneumatophore acts like a natural life jacket.
• Cypress trees growing in wetlands often produce pneumatophores.
• Scientists studied the pneumatophore structure to understand how the organism maintains buoyancy.
• The pneumatophores of bald cypress trees stick up from the water like wooden spikes.