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

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Etymology

Origin of callus

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

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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

A student of both men, Doyle would immortalize detection as a study in “little distinctions”—a callus, a stain, a footprint or the mark of a ligature could become hallmarks of a criminal investigation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

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

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2024

And that callus blocks the need to find that time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2023

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

Ever since I was little, I’ve pressed my right thumbnail into the finger pad of my middle finger, and so now there’s this weird callus over my fingerprint.

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

I can feel the calluses at the base of his fingers, rough against my skin.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

He could determine a man’s profession from the wear pattern on his trousers, from whether he was lightly or deeply tanned, or from which parts of his hands were callused.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

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

At age 75, the tall, easy-mannered fisherman with a replaced knee and rough, callused hands is not as sure-footed as he once was.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2021

I picture my father hunched by the back door, lacing his steel-toed boots and threading his callused hands into welding gloves.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Conifer grafts are often placed in a grafting case for rapid callusing.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting Urbana, Illinois, August 28, 29 and 30, 1951 by Northern Nut Growers Association

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

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

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

The bottom of the callusing bed is first covered with 2 or 3 inches of sand.

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

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