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byssus

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byssus


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Byssus  \Bys"sus\,  n.;  pl  E.  {Byssuses};  L.  {Byssi}.[L.  byssus 
  fine  flax,  fine  linen  or  cotton,  Gr  by`ssos  .] 
  1.  A  cloth  of  exceedingly  fine  texture,  used  by  the  ancients. 
  It  is  disputed  whether  it  was  of  cotton,  linen,  or  silk. 
  [Written  also  {byss}  and  {byssin}.] 
 
  2.  (Zo["o]l.)  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 
 
  3.  (Bot.)  An  obsolete  name  for  certain  fungi  composed  of 
  slender  threads. 
 
  4.  Asbestus. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  byssus 
  n  :  tuft  of  strong  filaments  by  which  e.g.  a  mussel  makes  itself 
  fast  to  a  fixed  surface  [syn:  {beard}] 




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