n. In botany, the stalk or petiole of a leaf, or peduncle of a flower.n. In zoology, a peduncle, pedicel, or crus; a process or part of the body likened to the petiole of a plant, as supporting some other part of the body, or the rest of the body, as the muscular process by which some brachiopods are attached, the peduncle of a cirriped, the stem of a crinoid, the ophthalmite of a stalk-eyed crustacean, etc.n. In machinery, the lower part of a mill-spindle.