piloerector
nounEtymology From pilo- + erector.
1
A muscle responsible for piloerection.
- Nor should we neglect that quintessentially mammalian trait, our hair, which, at the behest of tiny piloerector muscles at the base of each strand, can puff up to trap pockets of still air, one of the finest insulators known.2007 February 20, Natalie Angier, “A Mammal in Winter With a Furnace of Her Own”, in New York Times: