The Collaborative International Dictionary
Calyx \Ca"lyx\ (k[=a]"l[i^]ks; 277), n.; pl. E. Calyxes (k[=a]"l[i^]ks*[e^]z), L. Calyces (k[a^]l"[i^]*s[=e]z). [L. calyx, -ycis, fr. Gr. ka`lyx husk, shell, calyx, from the root of kaly`ptein to cover, conceal. Cf. Chalice Helmet.]
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(Bot.) The covering of a flower. See Flower.
Note: The calyx is usually green and foliaceous, but becomes delicate and petaloid in such flowers as the anemone and the four-o'clock. Each leaf of the calyx is called a sepal.
(Anat.) A cuplike division of the pelvis of the kidney, which surrounds one or more of the renal papill[ae].
Wiktionary
n. (calyx English)
WordNet
See calyx
n. (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green
[also: calyces (pl)]
Usage examples of "calyces".
Ugly ambulant plants sidle up and press their tumid calyces against me, dusting my liners with pollen.
He is smiling expansively, entranced by the mobile plants which cluster around us, fronds upraised to savour our carbon dioxide, calyces begging our hands for pollination.
As they fade the calyces become fleshy and much enlarged, and resemble the fruit of the hawthorn when ripe.