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excurrent

[ik-skur-uh nt, -skuhr-]
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adjective
  1. running out or forth.
  2. Zoology. giving passage outward; affording exit: the excurrent canal of certain sponges.
  3. Botany.
    1. having the axis prolonged so as to form an undivided main stem or trunk, as the stem of the spruce.
    2. projecting beyond the apex, as the midrib in certain leaves.
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Origin of excurrent

1595–1605; < Latin excurrent- (stem of excurrēns) present participle of excurrere to run forth. See ex-1, current
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for excurrent

Historical Examples

  • This is called an excurrent trunk (Lat., excurrere, to run out).

    Woodworking for Beginners

    Charles Gardner Wheeler

  • An excurrent and returning current were also traced to each of the legs.

  • Its excurrent branches are very different from those of other elms.

    Forest Trees of Illinois

    Fuller George D.

  • When the main trunk of a tree extends upward through the head to the tip, as in Fig. 3, it is said to be excurrent.

  • Medium-sized tree with mainly an excurrent trunk and horizontal branches.

British Dictionary definitions for excurrent

excurrent

adjective
  1. zoology having an outward flow, as certain pores in sponges, ducts, etc
  2. botany
    1. (of veins) extending beyond the margin of the leaf
    2. having an undivided main stem or trunk, as the spruce and other conifers
  3. flowing or running in an outward direction
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Word Origin

C19: from Latin excurrere to run forth; see excursion
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012