protuberant
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of protuberant
1640–50; < Late Latin prōtūberant- (stem of prōtūberāns ), present participle of prōtūberāre to swell. See pro- 1, tuber 1, -ant
Explanation
If something is protuberant, it juts or bulges out, like Santa Claus's famously protuberant belly. You might find your small dog adorable, with her flat nose and protuberant eyes, while your brother prefers the family cat. Something that's protuberant can also be called a protuberance, and we can trace both words back to the Late Latin protuberare, "to swell or bulge," from the roots pro, "forward," and tuber, "lump or swelling."
Vocabulary lists containing protuberant
Dracula
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Interpreter of Maladies
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A Bend in the River
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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.
Protuberant: rising or produced above the surface or general level.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Once upon a Time there was a slim Girl with a Forehead which was Shiny and Protuberant, like a Bartlett Pear.
From Fables in Slang by Newman, Clyde J.
For these Adventitious Corpuscles Associating themselves with the Protuberant Particles of the Surface of a Colour'd Body, must necessarily alter their Bigness, and will most commonly alter their Shape.
From Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours (1664) by Boyle, Robert
Protuberant lumps of ice thrown up by some pressure upon a field or floe, or any other frozen plane.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
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.
