callus
Pronunciation
  • (America, British) IPA: /ˈkæləs/
Noun

callus (plural calluses or calli)

  1. A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use.
    • 2011,David Foster Wallace The Pale King, page 17:
      Sylvanshine had once been on a first date with a Xerox rep who had complex and slightly repulsive patterns of callus on her fingers from playing the banjo semi-professionally
  2. The material of repair in fractures of bone; a substance exuded at the site of fracture, which is at first soft or cartilaginous in consistency, but is ultimately converted into true bone and unites the fragments into a single piece.
  3. (botany) The new formation over the end of a cutting, before it puts out rootlets.
  4. (entomology) A shining area on the frons of many species of Tabanomorpha (horse flies and relatives).
Translations Verb

callus (calluses, present participle callusing; past and past participle callused)

  1. (intransitive) To form such hardened tissue.
Translations
  • Italian: incallire
  • Portuguese: calo



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