Definitions

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

  • adjective Having saw-toothed divisions directed away from the apex.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In botany, irregularly saw-toothed or pinnately incised, with the lobes or teeth hooked backward: said chiefly of leaves, as those of the dandelion.

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

  • adjective (Bot.) Pinnately cut with the lobes pointing downwards, as the leaf of the dandelion.

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

  • adjective botany, of leaves Having tooth-like projections pointing away from the apex.
  • adjective botany, of leaves Having a lacerated aspect with the projection pointing away from the apex, like dandelion leaves.

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

  • adjective having incised margins with the lobes or teeth pointing toward the base; as dandelion leaves

Etymologies

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

[Latin runcinātus, past participle of runcināre, to plane, from runcina, carpenter's plane, formerly taken to mean saw, alteration (influenced by runcāre, to weed, pluck) of Greek rhukanē, carpenter's plane.]

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Examples

  • The movement brought the stern to view, with all its garniture-Tritons like those at the bow; name in large raised letters; the rudder at the side; the elevated platform upon which the helmsman sat, a stately figure in full armour, his hand upon the rudder-rope; and the aplustre, high, gilt, carved, and bent over the helmsman like a great runcinate leaf.

    Ben-Hur, a tale of the Christ 1901

  • See, Miss Esther, look at these runcinate leaves. '

    A Red Wallflower Susan Warner 1852

  • The inner ones may be linear or linear-lanceolate, with or without appendages below the tip; the outer ones may be similar and only shorter, or noticeably larger, erect, spreading or even reflexed, and the color of the involucre may be a pure green or glaucous; the leaves may be nearly entire or pinnatifid, or sinuate-dentate, or very deeply runcinate-pinnatifid, or even pinnately divided, the whole plant being more or less glabrous.

    Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation Hugo de Vries 1891

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