Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small knotlike protuberance.
  • noun Medicine A small, abnormal but usually benign mass of tissue, as on the thyroid gland, in the lung, or under the skin.
  • noun Botany A small knoblike outgrowth, especially one on the roots of a leguminous plant that contains bacteria that fix nitrogen.
  • noun Mineralogy A small rounded lump of a mineral or mixture of minerals, usually harder than the surrounding rock or sediment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A little knot or lump.
  • noun The peculiar knot upon the roots of leguminous and a few other plants, caused by bacteria. (See nodule-bacteria, under bacterium.) They enable the plant to use atmospheric nitrogen. See root-tubercle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A rounded mass or irregular shape; a little knot or lump.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A rounded mass or irregular shape; a little knot or lump.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small node
  • noun small rounded wartlike protuberance on a plant
  • noun (mineralogy) a small rounded lump of mineral substance (usually harder than the surrounding rock or sediment)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin nōdulus, diminutive of nōdus, knot; see ned- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin nodulus ("small knot")

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Examples

  • A thyroid nodule is a firm lump in the thyroid gland; it may be cancerous or benign (not cancerous).

    Pediatric surgery: Thyroid Nodules 2008

  • A vocal cord nodule is a small, inflammatory or fibrous growth that develops on the vocal cords of people who constantly strain their voices.

    Polyp Weather « We Don't Count Your Own Visits To Your Blog 2008

  • "I'd rather use the word nodule," Tom replied with his signature sense of humor.

    Dying With Courage 2007

  • Still, he was not prepared to open to a cash-paying public until he found the most staggering item of all: a fossil cockroach in an ironstone nodule from the upper carboniferous rocks of the Sosnowiec coalfields.

    Excerpt: Insect Dreams by Marc Estrin 2002

  • I had a thyroid nodule aka tumor that was "indeterminate" so I had to have half my thyroid removed to make sure it wasn't cancer.

    Quiz: What Type of Doctor is Best For You and Your Thyroid Treatment? GreenFertility 2007

  • On either side of the nodule is a thin layer of white substance, named the posterior medullary velum.

    IX. Neurology. 4a. The Hind-brain or Rhombencephalon 1918

  • According to WIkipedia a "nodule" can be: "a small knobbly rock or mineral cluster, such as a manganese nodule; a small aggregation of cells; a lesion similar to a papule; or Root nodule, an outgrowth formed on the roots of legumes that house symbiotic bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and provide it to the plant in exchange for carbon."

    America's New Space "Nodule" - NASA Watch 2009

  • According to WIkipedia a "nodule" can be: "a small knobbly rock or mineral cluster, such as a manganese nodule; a small aggregation of cells; a lesion similar to a papule; or Root nodule, an outgrowth formed on the roots of legumes that house symbiotic bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and provide it to the plant in exchange for carbon."

    NASA Watch: March 2009 Archives 2009

  • The doctor found a new "nodule" where the original cancer had been.

    Carrie Pollare: Losing Noah: Coming to Terms with Canine Cancer 2009

  • According to WIkipedia a "nodule" can be: "a small knobbly rock or mineral cluster, such as a manganese nodule; a small aggregation of cells; a lesion similar to a papule; or Root nodule, an outgrowth formed on the roots of legumes that house symbiotic bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and provide it to the plant in exchange for carbon."

    NASA Watch: Keith Cowing: March 2009 Archives 2009

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