caruncle
Americannoun
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Botany. a protuberance at or surrounding the hilum of a seed.
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Zoology. a fleshy excrescence, as on the head of a bird; a fowl's comb.
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Anatomy. a small, fleshy growth.
noun
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a fleshy outgrowth on the heads of certain birds, such as a cock's comb
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an outgrowth near the hilum on the seeds of some plants
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any small fleshy mass in or on the body, either natural or abnormal
Other Word Forms
- caruncular adjective
- carunculate adjective
- carunculous adjective
Etymology
Origin of caruncle
1605–15; earlier caruncula < Latin: small piece of flesh, diminutive of carō (genitive carnis ) flesh; for suffix, 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.
Few individuals retained the caruncle when they entered hibernation late in November, and none retained it upon emergence from hibernation.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.
A paleness and want of liveliness of the membranes, generally, may be considered as the first symptoms, to which may be added a yellowness of the caruncle at the corner of the eye.
From Sheep, Swine, and Poultry Embracing the History and Varieties of Each; The Best Modes of Breeding; Their Feeding and Management; Together with etc. by Jennings, Robert
The seeds cannot be carried so well unless this ridge, caruncle, be present.
From Seed Dispersal by Beal, W. J. (William James)
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
The caruncle remains on the beak for a variable length of time, but never is present in the spring following hatching.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.
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.
