snail's eyestalk
Literal zoological term for the tentacle-like eye-bearing appendage of a snail. Rare in everyday conversation; mainly encountered in literary or descriptive contexts.
At the tip of the snail's eyestalk there is a tiny eye.
narrow space; cramped place
Figurative use derived from the image of a snail's tiny horn, suggesting a very confined area. Often appears in the set phrase 蝸角の争い (a petty quarrel over a trifle).
They are fighting over a tiny piece of land, as narrow as a snail's horn.
Do you know the proverb 'a quarrel over a snail's horn'?
From Chinese 蝸角 (wōjiǎo), literally 'snail horn'. The figurative sense comes from a classical Chinese story about two kingdoms fighting over a territory as small as a snail's horn.