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carbuncle

Posted on August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 by admin

car·bun·cle

kar buhng kəl

noun

1. a dark gemstone, especially a ruby sapphire.
quotation: A golden chain hung about his neck, and at his collar was a great carbuncle set in red gold. (Howard Pyle, The Legend of Robin Hood)

carbuncle_gemstone

2. a painful localized abscess of the tissue underneath the skin.
quotation: He was a man well stricken in years, but still strong to do evil: he was one who looked cruelly out of a hot, passionate, bloodshot eye; who had a huge red nose with a carbuncle, thick lips, and a great double, flabby chin, which swelled out into solid substance, like a turkey-cock’s comb, when sudden anger inspired him. (A. Trollope, The Warden)

 

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