wart
Americannoun
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warts
plural
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a small, often hard, abnormal elevation on the skin, usually caused by a papomavirus.
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any small protuberance, as on the surface of certain plants, the skin of certain animals, etc.
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any unattractive detrimental feature or aspect.
The biography presents the full story of the prime minister's political career, warts and all.
noun
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Also called: verruca. pathol any firm abnormal elevation of the skin caused by a virus
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botany a small rounded outgrowth
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with all blemishes evident
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A small growth on the skin caused by a virus, occurring typically on the hands or feet.
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A similar growth on a plant, especially one caused by a fungal disease.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wart
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wearte; cognate with German Warze, Old Norse varta; akin to Latin verrūca “wart”
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.
See Examples For:
So carefully observed are the head’s features that even a small wart marks the left cheek.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2025
A child with a cancerous lesion on her toe was mistakenly diagnosed as having a wart.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2024
The first experiment involved the participants remembering words in order -- words that were similar, either phonetically or in spelling, e.g. "bought," "caught," "taut" and "wart."
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2024
Or, if you prefer, an infected face wart that John Candy’s Uncle Buck would suggest a rat gnaw off your body.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2023
A soddie on the south end of town, the place looked like the earth had grown a wart or something.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
Still, the book doesn’t quite deliver on its promise; this “warts-and-all” look at the American past dwells, a bit predictably, on the warts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
A "warts and all" assessment of the impact of the North Coast 500 road trip has been ordered amid concerns about overtourism.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
Our cities remain rich places, warts and all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
Having spent nearly 50 years telling America’s stories, warts and all, Ken Burns knows better than to traffic in the reassurance business.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2025
Yossarian walked out of the office and down the stairs into the dark, tomblike street, passing in the hall the stout woman with warts and two chins, who was already on her way back in.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
