Carbuncle

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Carbuncle \Car"bun*cle\, n. [L. carbunculus a little coal, a
     bright kind of precious stone, a kind of tumor, dim. of carbo
     coal: cf. F. carboncle. See {Carbon}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Min.) A beautiful gem of a deep red color (with a mixture
        of scarlet) called by the Greeks anthrax; found in the


        East Indies. When held up to the sun, it loses its deep
        tinge, and becomes of the color of burning coal. The name
        belongs for the most part to ruby sapphire, though it has
        been also given to red spinel and garnet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Med.) A very painful acute local inflammation of the
        subcutaneous tissue, esp. of the trunk or back of the
        neck, characterized by brawny hardness of the affected
        parts, sloughing of the skin and deeper tissues, and
        marked constitutional depression. It differs from a boil
        in size, tendency to spread, and the absence of a central
        core, and is frequently fatal. It is also called
        {anthrax}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Her.) A charge or bearing supposed to represent the
        precious stone. It has eight scepters or staves radiating
        from a common center. Called also {escarbuncle}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  carbuncle
       n 1: deep-red cabochon-cut garnet cut without facets
       2: an infection larger than a boil and with several openings
          for discharge of pus

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  76 Moby Thesaurus words for "carbuncle":
     abscess, aposteme, bed sore, blain, bleb, blister, boil, bubo,
     bulla, bump, bunion, canker, canker sore, chancre, chancroid,
     chilblain, cold sore, corn, cyst, dilatation, dilation, distension,
     edema, eschar, felon, fester, festering, fever blister, fistula,
     furuncle, furunculus, gathering, gumboil, hemorrhoids,
     intumescence, kibe, lesion, lump, papula, papule, paronychia,
     parulis, petechia, piles, pimple, pock, polyp, pustule, rising,
     scab, sebaceous cyst, soft chancre, sore, stigma, sty, suppuration,
     swell, swelling, swollenness, tubercle, tumefaction, tumescence,
     tumidity, tumor, turgescence, turgescency, turgidity, ulcer,
     ulceration, wale, welt, wen, wheal, whelk, whitlow, wound
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Carbuncle
     (Ex. 28:17; 39:10; Ezek. 28:13). Heb. barkath; LXX. smaragdos;
     Vulgate, smaragdus; Revised Version, marg., "emerald." The
     Hebrew word is from a root meaning "to glitter," "lighten,"
     "flash." When held up to the sun, this gem shines like a burning
     coal, a dark-red glowing coal, and hence is called
     "carbunculus", i.e., a little coal. It was one of the jewels in
     the first row of the high priest's breastplate. It has been
     conjectured by some that the garnet is meant. In Isa. 54:12 the
     Hebrew word is _'ekdah_, used in the prophetic description of
     the glory and beauty of the mansions above. Next to the diamond
     it is the hardest and most costly of all precious stones.