caruncle
Americannoun
-
Botany. a protuberance at or surrounding the hilum of a seed.
-
Zoology. a fleshy excrescence, as on the head of a bird; a fowl's comb.
-
Anatomy. a small, fleshy growth.
noun
-
a fleshy outgrowth on the heads of certain birds, such as a cock's comb
-
an outgrowth near the hilum on the seeds of some plants
-
any small fleshy mass in or on the body, either natural or abnormal
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of caruncle
1605–15; earlier caruncula < Latin: small piece of flesh, diminutive of carō (genitive carnis ) flesh; for suffix, see carbuncle
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.
The caruncle may aid hatchlings in escaping from the nest.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.
Stems several from a hard rootstock, 1° high; leaves narrowly linear, 3–12´´ long, acute; wings oblong-obovate; crest small; lobes of the caruncle half the length of the appressed-silky seed.—Neb. and Kan. to Tex.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa
Almost every caruncle present after 50 days could be flicked off easily with a probe or fingernail.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.
For a few examples: The little fold of caruncle at the inner margin of the eye in man, represents the nictitating membrane of birds.
From Was Man Created? by Mott, Henry A. (Henry Augustus)
In some cases, however, it has been found that after removal of a large pterygium, a retraction of the caruncle and the semilunar fold is apt to take place, which renders the eyeball unpleasantly prominent.
From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Bell, Joseph
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.
