- dead skin, esp that round the base of a fingernail or toenail
- another name for epidermis
- the protective layer, containing cutin, that covers the epidermis of higher plants
- the hard protective layer covering the epidermis of many invertebrates
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
cu•ti•cle /ˈkyutɪkəl/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Anatomythe hardened skin that surrounds the edges of a fingernail or toenail.
cu•ti•cle
(kyo̅o̅′ti kəl),USA pronunciation n.
cu•tic•u•lar
(kyo̅o̅ tik′yə lər),USA pronunciation adj.
- Anatomythe nonliving epidermis that surrounds the edges of the fingernail or toenail.
- Anatomythe epidermis.
- Anatomya superficial integument, membrane, or the like.
- Anatomy, ZoologyAlso called cuticula. [Zool.]the outer, noncellular layer of the arthropod integument, composed of a mixture of chitin and protein and commonly containing other hardening substances as well.
- Botanya very thin hyaline film covering the surface of plants, derived from the outer surfaces of the epidermal cells.
- Latin cutīcula the skin, equivalent. to cuti(s) skin, cutis + -cula -cle1
- 1605–15;
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
cuticle /ˈkjuːtɪkəl/ n
'cuticle' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
ecdysis
- epidermis
- exoskeleton
- hide
- hypodermis
- integument
- moult
- nematode
- scarfskin
- spiracle
- corn
- cuticula
- cut-in
- epicuticle
- eponychium
- sclerotin
- sclerotized