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raphide

British  
/ ˈreɪfɪs, ˈreɪfaɪd /

noun

  1. any of numerous needle-shaped crystals, usually of calcium oxalate, that occur in many plant cells as a metabolic product

"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
raphide Scientific  
/ rā′fīd /

plural

raphides

  1. One of a bundle of needlelike crystals of calcium oxalate occurring in many plant cells. The crystals discourage animals from eating the plant by irritating their tissues.

Etymology

Origin of raphide

C18: from French, from Greek rhaphis needle

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.