Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The condition of being calloused.
- noun Hardheartedness; insensitivity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state or quality of being hardened or callous.
- noun In a concrete sense, any thickened or hardened part on the surface of the human body or that of any animal, such as the hard and often somewhat bony lumps that arise in places exposed to constant pressure and friction, the cicatrized surfaces of old ulcers or wounds, etc., the natural cutaneous thickenings on the buttocks of gibbons and other monkeys, etc.
- noun In botany, any part of a plant unusually hard.
- noun In entomology, an elevated, rounded portion of the surface, generally smooth, and paler than the surrounding parts, appearing like a swelling.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A hard or thickened spot or protuberance; a hardening and thickening of the skin or bark of a part, eps. as a result of continued pressure or friction.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun countable A
callus - noun uncountable A
callous demeanour;insensitivity orhardheartedness
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun devoid of passion or feeling; hardheartedness
- noun an area of skin that is thick or hard from continual pressure or friction (as the sole of the foot)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word callosity.
Examples
-
The sound can be modified accordingly as the strokes of each bow bear upon the callosity, which is itself serrated or wrinkled, or on one of the four smooth radiating nervures.
Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869
-
The so-called bone callosity due to an increased rate of calcification often follows this kind of abuse.
Plastic Surgery May Turn Patient Into Disfigured Monster | Impact Lab 2007
-
Says is the winner of the Crown in 1978 callosity.
-
To a youth afflicted with the callosity of sentiment, this quaint and pregnant saying appeared merely base.
-
There is one on the Shameen bridge who has a callosity like
The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004
-
Mark had the frankness of callosity, and could recount his evil deeds and confess his vices with hilarity and detail, and was prompt to take his part in a lark, and was a remarkably hard hitter, and never shrank from the brunt of the row; and with these fine qualities, and a much superior knowledge of the ways of the flash world, had commanded my boyish reverence and a general popularity among strangers.
Wylder's Hand 2003
-
Swift omitted no opportunity of humbling his pride; but, as he was as ignorant as insolent, he was obliged to accommodate the coarseness of the lash to the callosity of the back.
Irish Wit and Humor Anecdote Biography of Swift, Curran, O'Leary and O'Connell Anonymous
-
To this callosity of nature it was due that William Castle, a foreign denizen of Bristol who had the hardihood to incur the marital tie there, was called upon, as related elsewhere, to serve at sea in the very heyday of his honeymoon.
-
The callosity of Smollett's midshipman, who spat in the pressed man's face when he dared to complain of his sufferings, and roughly bade him die for aught he cared, was characteristic of the service.
-
When the best possible results succeed treatment, a large callosity is formed and movement of the pastern joint is restricted.
Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 John Victor Lacroix
callosity commented on the word callosity
Also used to describe the raised skin on Right Whales that appears white/yellow due to whale lice. Marine scientists use the callosities to identify different whales for tracking and observational studies.
June 17, 2008