cauliflower ear

noun

1. an ear that has been deformed by repeated injury, resulting in an irregular thickening of scar tissue.

cauliflower ear

noun

1. Also called: boxer's ear. Technical name: aural haematoma. permanent swelling and distortion of the external ear as the result of ruptures of the blood vessels: usually caused by blows received in boxing

Word History and Origins

Origin of cauliflower ear¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

Johnson, squeezed into a wig so tight we get a vicarious headache, has pumped up his deltoids to nearly reach his prosthetic cauliflower ears.

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"Some would say 'You are ugly' - others would comment on my cauliflower ears, because I'd been doing Judo. Some would say 'Are you actually a man?'" she said.

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Raw facial strawberry scrapes and cauliflower ears won’t get you on the injured list but will earn you pitch cred — and get your photo taken by me.

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The one he finally got was a cross-eyed ex-boxer with cauliflower ears, who could only type, not break codes.

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I tape my wrists, followed by my ears — to the side of my head — so I don’t get cauliflower ear, which is what happens if you get a shot to the ear.

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