Byssus

[bisәs]

Definition

(noun.) tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself fast to a fixed surface.

Typed by Bernadine--From WordNet

Definition

(n.) A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients. It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.

(n.) A tuft of long, tough filaments which are formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the Pinna and Mytilus, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.

(n.) An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of slender threads.

(n.) Asbestus.

Checker: Rudolph

Definition

n. a fine yellowish flax and the linen made from it: the bundle of fine silky filaments by which many shellfish attach themselves to rocks &c.: a genus of cryptogamic plants of a silky fibrous texture found on decaying wood in mines &c. and other dark places.—adjs. Byssif′erous bearing or having a byssus; Byss′ine made of fine linen.

Checked by Alissa