byssus
Americannoun
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Zoology. a collection of silky filaments by which certain mollusks attach themselves to rocks.
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an ancient cloth, thought to be of linen, cotton, or silk.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of byssus
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek býssos a fine cotton or linen < Semitic; compare Hebrew būts
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Like Pinna nobilis, the pen shell produces byssus threads that help it attach to surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
Using this similarity as a starting point, they developed a method for processing pen shell byssus into a material that recreates the appearance of ancient sea silk.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
The byssus fibers of pen shells have traditionally been discarded as waste.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
To remove the byssus, grasp it with your thumb and forefinger or between your thumb and the blade of a paring knife and give a sharp tug toward the hinged end of the shell.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2020
And for my personal use they sent to me five pieces of byssus, each sufficiently large to make a suit of raiment, a sack of lentils, and five vessels full of dried fish.
From The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians by Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Eventually the larvae find a surface to their liking and settle down, mooring themselves with sticky, hairlike threads called byssuses.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
