Definition of "elater"

elater¹

/ɪˈleɪ.tə/

noun
plural elaters
1. That which elates.

elater²

/ˈɛl.ə.tə/

noun
plural elaters
1. (obsolete) Elasticity; especially the expansibility of a gas.
2. (botany) A long, slender cell produced among spores and having hygroscopic secondary cell wall thickenings.
  Quotations
  The closest affinities of the Jubulaceae are with the Lejeuneaceae. The two families share in common: (a) elaters usually 1-spiral, trumpet-shaped and fixed to the capsule valves, distally […]
  1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page 4
3. (botany) Any of the long, slender hygroscopic appendages attached to the spores of horsetails (genus Equisetum).
4. (zoology) An elaterid, or click beetle.