Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The outermost part of a flower, consisting of the sepals.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The expanded, cup-like, deciduous structure on the ends of the stems of certain entoproctous Polyzoa, containing most of the organs and hence practically an individual.
- noun A depression formed by the more or less reticulate folding of the skin, as in the intromittent organs of snakes.
- noun A cup-shaped excavation on the surface of the ovary which remains after the rupture of a Graafian vesicle.
- noun Any circular piece which resembles in form the calyx of a flower.
- noun In botany, in general, the outer set of the envelops which form the perianth of a flower.
- noun In human anatomy, one of the cup-like or infundibuliform beginnings of the ureter in the pelvis of the kidney, surrounding the apices of the Malpighian pyramids, each receiving usually more than one pyramid.
- noun In zoology: The cup at the base of the ciliated tentacles on the lophophore or oral disk of polyzoans. See
Plumatella . - noun The pedicellated Graafian follicle, ovarian capsule, or ovisac of a bird, consisting of two membranes of lax tissue and blood-vessels, rupturing at a point called the stigma to discharge the ovum, then collapsing, and finally becoming absorbed.
- noun In crinoids, the cup at the summit of the stȧlk or stem, whence the brachia radiate and on the surface of which is the mouth.
- noun In Hydrozoa, a generative capsule developed in the axils of a branched hydroid stock, containing either medusa-buds or sexual organs.
- noun Some other calyciform or cup-shaped part or organ of an animal.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) The covering of a flower. See
flower . - noun (Anat.) A cuplike division of the pelvis of the kidney, which surrounds one or more of the renal papillæ.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun anatomy A
cup -likestructure in themammalian kidney . - noun botany The outermost
whorl offlower parts, comprising thesepals , when it is not the same in appearance as the next such whorl (thecorolla ). - noun zoology The crown of a
crinoid .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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When the blossoms fall the apples stand upright on the tree, and the little pointed leaves that are on the blossom end of the apples, that we call the calyx, are all open, and at that time you can spray so as to get the arsenate of lead on the inside.
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It appears the tiny, crimson point of the bud which protrudes from the calyx is very sensitive, and more easily blighted by frost than any other bud.
Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910
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Blossoms single – calyx is urn-shaped, narrowing at the top – to its lining are fastened pistils and stamens – corolla consists of five (generally) broad petals, varying in colour from white to deep rose pink – buds are deep pink – fruit crimson in the autumn.
Flower Stories 1903
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The greenish-yellow calyx, which is closely wrapped around the bud, is next examined.
Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study Ontario. Ministry of Education
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_Hence_? the induration of the calyx should be the most permanent if it is the cause, but to obviate all doubts, both calyx, fructus induratus, and capsula circumscissa, should enter into the generic character; the unilaterality of capsules, and their invariable tendency to look downwards, or rather the inferior unilaterality, may likewise reasonably be considered connected with the same structure of calyx, as well as the expanded limb of the calyx.
Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries William Griffith
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In the cherry, peach and apple, the calyx is a cup or tube with the upper edge divided into lobes.
The First Book of Farming Charles Landon Goodrich
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Above the calyx is a broad spreading corolla which is white or brightly colored and is divided into several distinct parts called petals.
The First Book of Farming Charles Landon Goodrich
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The green case, called the calyx, which contains the scarlet petals, is already partly open; it is splitting in half, and the flower will soon be out.
Wildflowers of the Farm Arthur Owens Cooke
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Evidently, then, the calyx is a protecting covering for the other parts of the flower until blossoming time.
The First Book of Farming Charles Landon Goodrich
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The calyx is a row of small points cut in light green wax; the points are touched with a brush containing a little brown, and then passed once round the flower.
The Royal Guide to Wax Flower Modelling Emma Peachey
bilby commented on the word calyx
"To dig it is to know it. To know it is to feel it, the clitoris so complicated and so clever, as thrilly as a high-tension wire. In its nest within a nest like the word within a word. The bud in its calyx in the vales where the big lips cleave away from the slopes of the Mount of Venus. This is carnal knowledge."
- 'The Politics Of Female Sexuality', Germaine Greer in Oz, 1970.
March 28, 2008