What is "axoneme"

n. (context biology English) A bundle of nine microtubules forming the internal scaffolding of a cilium, with two extra central microtubules connecting the others if the cilium is motile

Numerous eukaryotic cells carry whip-like appendages ( cilia or eukaryotic flagella) whose inner core consists of a cytoskeletal structure called the axoneme. The axoneme serves as the "skeleton" of these organelles, both giving support to the structure and, in some cases, causing it to bend. Though distinctions of function and/or length may be made between cilia and flagella, the internal structure of the axoneme is common to both.