byssus
Zoology. a collection of silky filaments by which certain mollusks attach themselves to rocks.
an ancient cloth, thought to be of linen, cotton, or silk.
Origin of byssus
1Other words from byssus
- bys·sa·ceous [bih-sey-shuhs], /bɪˈseɪ ʃəs/, byssoid, adjective
- byssal, adjective
Words Nearby byssus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use byssus in a sentence
Clean your mussels just before you are ready to cook, because once you yank off that byssus, the mussel may die, and you want to cook them while they are alive.
Mussels are simple to prepare, and add tasty drama to the table | Martha Holmberg | October 29, 2020 | Washington PostThe Serica347 also are of a similar kind, and are made of dry byssus, which is obtained from some sort of bark of plants.
The meaning of the word byssus has been disputed; some authorities asserting that it includes both flax and cotton fabrics.
Needlework As Art | Marian AlfordThe foot is usually provided with a byssus by which the animal fixes itself to a little projection on the side of its burrow.
The Sea Shore | William S. FurneauxThe mantle of the animal is open, and the margins of the lobes fringed; and the small foot spins a powerful byssus.
The Sea Shore | William S. Furneaux
The mummy lay on a mattress of striped byssus, the head on a byssus pillow.
The Tour | Louis Couperus
British Dictionary definitions for byssus
/ (ˈbɪsəs) /
a mass of strong threads secreted by a sea mussel or similar mollusc that attaches the animal to a hard fixed surface
Origin of byssus
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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