| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| cuticle |
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| SYLLABICATION: | cu·ti·cle |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  ky  t -k l |
| NOUN: | 1. The outermost layer of the skin of vertebrates; epidermis. 2. The strip of hardened skin at the base and sides of a fingernail or toenail. 3. Dead or cornified epidermis. 4. Zoology The noncellular, hardened or membranous protective covering of many invertebrates, such as the transparent membrane that covers annelids. 5. Botany The layer of cutin covering the epidermis of the aerial parts of plants. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin cut cula, diminutive of cutis, skin. See (s)keu- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | cu·ticu·lar (-tky-lr) —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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