tubercle
noun
Simple meaning
A protuberance on a bone.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tooberkuhlIPA pronunciation (US)
tubɚkəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
pathology
A swelling that is the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis
pathology
A small rounded nodule forming the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis.
anatomy
A protuberance on a bone especially for attachment of a muscle or ligament
botany
Small rounded wartlike protuberance on a plant
Word at a Glance
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A swelling that is the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis
Used this way, tubercle is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- tuberosity , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Cause of tuberculosis.
One of the sebaceous glands on the areolae of the breast that lubricate the breast during breast-feeding.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: swelling that is the characteristic lesion of tuberculosis
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