callus

American  

[kal-uhs] / ˈkæl əs /

noun

• calluses
  plural

1. Pathology, Physiology.

   1. a hardened or thickened part of the skin; a callosity.

   2. a new growth of osseous matter at the ends of a fractured bone, serving to unite them.

2. Botany. Also

   1. the tissue that forms over the wounds of plants, protecting the inner tissues and causing healing.

   2. a deposit on the perforated area of a sieve tube.

   3. (in grasses) a tough swelling at the base of a lemma or palea.

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verb (used without object)

callused, callusing

1. to form a callus.

verb (used with object)

callused, callusing

1. to produce a callus or calluses on.

   Heavy work callused his hands.

callus British  

/ ˈkæləs /

noun

1. Also called: callosity.  an area of skin that is hard or thick, esp on the palm of the hand or sole of the foot, as from continual friction or pressure

2. an area of bony tissue formed during the healing of a fractured bone

3. botany

   1. a mass of hard protective tissue produced in woody plants at the site of an injury

   2. an accumulation of callose in the sieve tubes

4. biotechnology a mass of undifferentiated cells produced as the first stage in tissue culture

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verb

1. to produce or cause to produce a callus

callus Scientific  

/ kăl′əs /

1. An area of the skin that has become hardened and thick, usually because of prolonged pressure or rubbing.

2. The hard bony tissue that develops around the ends of a fractured bone during healing.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uncallused
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• calluses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of callus

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin callus, masculine variant of callum “tough skin, any hard substance”; see callous

Explanation

A callus is a spot where your skin becomes rough and thick. After wearing flip flops every day, all summer long, you'll probably have a callus between your toes. If you get a blister from playing tennis or digging in the garden, it will eventually turn into a callus if you keep swinging your racquet or using your trowel. Any spot on your skin that's rubbed and irritated repeatedly becomes a callus, or a thickened patch of skin. In medicine, another kind of callus is the bony tissue that forms when a broken bone heals. Don't confuse callus with callous — which sounds the same but means "insensitive and cruel."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

callus calluses callused callusing

Each adds another layer of callus over the public conscience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

“I want to build up a callus of hard work,” Fisch said.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2024

The cells formed a tumorlike tissue known as callus that could then be coaxed to grow into a seedling.

From Science Magazine ● May 17, 2023

Will I have to ask for more time spent on that callus?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2022

“And I did it to myself. Like I always do. Opened the callus up and now it’s infected.”

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green

Jobs that “put calluses on your hands—those are the only jobs I’ve ever had.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

"Our final, clear polish could be put over any manicure or even bare nails, which could help people with calluses on their fingertips, too. So, it has both a cosmetic and lifestyle benefit," explains Desai.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2026

Doesn’t he get sharp objects stuck in his thick calluses?

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2023

The 83-year-old Chuck Wepner stands 6ft 5in tall, with broad shoulders and heavily knuckled hands; bone calluses serve as reminders of a life spent punching.

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2023

Sefia prodded the calluses forming on her hands and waited on the quarterdeck.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

His arms and face were tanned from perpetually toiling in the sun, his fingers callused.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2023

The miners dug hundreds of feet deep with shovels and their bare, callused hands.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2022

This time, however, that bravado backfired against a callused Ravens team with a defense coordinated by Don Martindale.

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2021

Wearing jeans and a John Deere cap, he turned the radio to an oldies station and, with hands callused thick by 50 years of farming, steered the vehicle toward the edge of town.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2019

Apa with his yellow callused palms from gardening all day and then cleaning up the lawyers’ offices at night.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

Bioletti, on callusing beds, 56. on grafting, 48, 52. on pruning in California, 151. on resistant stocks, 63. quoted, 18.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

They are, therefore, stratified in a callusing bed where moisture and temperature can be controlled.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

In the callusing bed we should endeavor to hasten and perfect the union of stock and scion as much as possible while delaying the starting of the buds and the emission of the roots.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

It is usually better, however, to place them for several weeks in a callusing bed before planting.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

If left as long as this in the callusing bed most of the scion buds will have started and formed white shoots.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick