Found 2 items, similar to Byssuses.
English → English (WordNet)
Definition: byssus
byssus
n : tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself
fast to a fixed surface [syn:
beard]
[also:
byssi (pl)]
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Byssuses
Byssus
\Bys"sus\, n.; pl. E.
Byssuses; L.
Byssi.[L. byssus
fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr. by`ssos .]
[1913 Webster]
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.]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Bot.) An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of
slender threads.
[1913 Webster]
4. Asbestus.
[1913 Webster]