protrusion

American  

[proh-troo-zhuhn, pruh-] / proʊˈtru ʒən, prə- /

noun

• protrusions
  plural

1. the act of protruding or the state of being protruded.

2. something that protrudes or projects.

   Synonyms:

   protuberance, bulge, projection, jut

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protrusion British  

/ prəˈtruːʒən /

noun

1. something that protrudes

2. the state or condition of being protruded

3. the act or process of protruding

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprotrusion
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• protrusions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of protrusion

1640–50; < Latin prōtrūs ( us ) (past participle of prōtrūdere to protrude ) + -ion

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Explanation

Anything that sticks or juts out from a surface is a protrusion. When you're rock climbing, every protrusion is a possible handle to grab or step to stand on. In medicine, most protrusions are evidence of some disorder or illness, like a bulging protrusion in your belly. Most other protrusions, though, are perfectly normal: your nose is a protrusion in the middle of your face, and a spire can be described as a protrusion on the top of a church. The Latin source of protrusion is protrudere, "to push out."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

protrusion protrusions

His surgery on Thursday will repair an inguinal hernia, a protrusion in the groin area due to a tear in the abdominal muscles.

From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025

I watched an older woman grow overcome by the proclamation that a protrusion in her abdomen was being burned out of her body.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2024

It causes a sac-like protrusion of brain tissue coming out of an opening in the skull and impacts about 1 in 10,000 babies born in the U.S.

From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2024

The detachment of the protrusion from the cell membrane results in the formation of a vacuole within the neighboring cell.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2024

At the end of it, a fingerlike protrusion wiggles and grasps.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Grey matter consists of neuronal cell bodies and their dendrites - short protrusions that communicate with neurons nearby.

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026

If an oarfish happens to swim up to the ocean’s surface, a sailor would see a long slithering creature with spiky protrusions on its head and could believe it was a sea monster, Paig-Tran said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

Inside the body, many surfaces such as tissues, blood vessels, or protrusions have a curved shape.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 18, 2024

It was first climbed in 1957 by a team who took 18 months searching for protrusions and cracks to use as holds and driving heavy metal spikes into the rock where no holds existed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

The canoe rose up on the crest of a wave, and the next thing I knew we were roller-coastering down the slope, faster and faster, headed straight for the rocky protrusions.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

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