cuticle
Americannoun
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the nonliving epidermis that surrounds the edges of the fingernail or toenail.
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the epidermis.
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a superficial integument, membrane, or the like.
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Also called cuticula. Zoology. the outer, noncellular layer of the arthropod integument, composed of a mixture of chitin and protein and commonly containing other hardening substances as well.
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Botany. a very thin hyaline film covering the surface of plants, derived from the outer surfaces of the epidermal cells.
noun
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dead skin, esp that round the base of a fingernail or toenail
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another name for epidermis
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any covering layer or membrane
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the protective layer, containing cutin, that covers the epidermis of higher plants
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the hard protective layer covering the epidermis of many invertebrates
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The noncellular, hardened or membranous protective covering of many invertebrates, such as the transparent membrane that covers annelids.
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A layer of wax and cutin that covers the outermost surfaces of a plant. The cuticle is secreted by the epidermis and helps prevent water loss and infection by parasites.
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The hard skin around the sides and base of a fingernail or toenail.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cuticle
1605–15; < Latin cutīcula the skin, equivalent to cuti ( s ) skin, cutis + -cula -cle 1
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.
They measured both total body volume and cuticle volume, finding that investment in the cuticle varied widely, from 6% to 35% of an ant's body.
From Science Daily • Dec. 22, 2025
When these measurements were fed into evolutionary models, a clear trend emerged: species that devoted less of their body to cuticle tended to form larger colonies.
From Science Daily • Dec. 22, 2025
Except for one picked cuticle on a fingernail, which was ever so slightly rimmed with blood.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
Malice follows suit, assuring “Your lucky streak is now losing you / Money’s dried up like a cuticle / You’re gasping for air now, it’s beautiful.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
Now Em started picking at the cuticle on her thumb.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
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.
