Definitions for: Tubercle

[n] a protuberance on a bone especially for attachment of a muscle or ligament
[n] small rounded wartlike protuberance on a plant
[n] a swelling that is the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis

Webster (1913) Definition: 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.

Synonyms: eminence, nodule, tuberosity

See Also: appendage, deltoid eminence, deltoid tuberosity, enation, lesion, outgrowth, plant process, process

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