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Synonyms

caruncle

American  
[kar-uhng-kuhl, kuh-ruhng-] / ˈkær ʌŋ kəl, kəˈrʌŋ- /

noun

  1. Botany. a protuberance at or surrounding the hilum of a seed.

  2. Zoology. a fleshy excrescence, as on the head of a bird; a fowl's comb.

  3. Anatomy. a small, fleshy growth.

caruncle British  
/ kəˈrʌŋ-, -ˌleɪt, kəˈrʌŋkjʊlɪt, kəˈrʌŋkjʊlə, ˈkærəŋkəl /

noun

  1. a fleshy outgrowth on the heads of certain birds, such as a cock's comb

  2. an outgrowth near the hilum on the seeds of some plants

  3. any small fleshy mass in or on the body, either natural or abnormal

"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

Other Word Forms

  • caruncular adjective
  • carunculate adjective
  • carunculous adjective

Etymology

Origin of caruncle

1605–15; earlier caruncula < Latin: small piece of flesh, diminutive of carō (genitive carnis ) flesh; for suffix, carbuncle

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.