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tubercle |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Tubercle \Tu"ber*cle\, n. [L. tuberculum, dim. of tuber: cf F. tubercule, OF also tubercle. See {Tuber}.] 1. A small knoblike prominence or excrescence, whether natural or morbid; as a tubercle on a plant; a tubercle on a bone; the tubercles appearing on the body in leprosy. 2. (Med.) A small mass or aggregation of morbid matter; especially, the deposit which accompanies scrofula or phthisis. This is composed of a hard, grayish, or yellowish, translucent or opaque matter, which gradually softens, and excites suppuration in its vicinity. It is most frequently found in the lungs, causing consumption. {Tubercle bacillus} (Med.), a minute vegetable organism ({Bacillus tuberculosis}) discovered by Koch, a German physician, in the sputum of consumptive patients and in tuberculous tissue, and believed to be the exciting cause of tubercles and tuberculosis. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: tubercle n 1: a swelling that is the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis 2: small rounded wartlike protuberance on a plant [syn: {nodule}] 3: a protuberance on a bone especially for attachment of a muscle or ligament [syn: {tuberosity}]
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