‖ halteres, n. pl.
(hælˈtɪəriːz)
Also alteres.
[Gr. ἁλτῆρες (in sense 1), f. ἅλλεσθαι to leap.]
1. Weights, similar to dumb-bells, held in the hands to give an impetus in leaping.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe xxxiii. (1541) 47 The plummets, called of Galen Alteres, whiche are nowe moch vsed with gret men..are verrye good to be vsed fastynge, a lytel before breakefast or dyner. 1857 Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) I. 414 The halteres or leaping dumb-bells, are seen hung up. 1896 Daily News 6 Apr. 5/7 An ordinary long jump..made with the help of halteres or leaping dumb-bells. |
2. Entom. The pair of knobbed filaments, also called balancers and poisers, which in dipterous insects take the place of a pair of posterior wings.
| 1823 in Crabb Technol. Dict. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 449 The halteres are entirely exposed. 1874 Lubbock Orig. & Met. Ins. i. 23 The hinder pair being represented by minute club-shaped organs called ‘halteres’. |