callus
Pathology, Physiology.
a hardened or thickened part of the skin; a callosity.
a new growth of osseous matter at the ends of a fractured bone, serving to unite them.
Also callose. Botany.
the tissue that forms over the wounds of plants, protecting the inner tissues and causing healing.
a deposit on the perforated area of a sieve tube.
(in grasses) a tough swelling at the base of a lemma or palea.
to form a callus.
to produce a callus or calluses on: Heavy work callused his hands.
Origin of callus
1Other words from callus
- un·cal·lused, adjective
Words that may be confused with callus
- callous, callus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use callus in a sentence
Calluses [that were] painful when he danced … and a bad fungus that was all over his feet and into his flesh.
As I lay there, eyes closed, half awake, I rubbed my elbows with my palms and found that I was rubbing prodigious calluses.
The Jacket (The Star-Rover) | Jack LondonHe rubbed his chin again, his hard calluses grating over his whiskers.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom | Cory DoctorowBut then he took her hand and felt its fine warmth, the calluses he remembered from all those months ago, and he felt better.
Makers | Cory DoctorowThe lower end calluses or heals, and the roots form more readily when the cutting is planted in the spring.
Cornell Nature-Study Leaflets | Various
My sister-in-law will not let a man without calluses sit down at the table.
British Dictionary definitions for callus
/ (ˈkæləs) /
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
an area of bony tissue formed during the healing of a fractured bone
botany
a mass of hard protective tissue produced in woody plants at the site of an injury
an accumulation of callose in the sieve tubes
biotechnology a mass of undifferentiated cells produced as the first stage in tissue culture
to produce or cause to produce a callus
Origin of callus
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
Scientific definitions for callus
[ kăl′əs ]
An area of the skin that has become hardened and thick, usually because of prolonged pressure or rubbing.
The hard bony tissue that develops around the ends of a fractured bone during healing.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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