| trefoil | 1. <botany> Any plant of the genus Trifolium, which includes the white clover, red clover, etc.; less properly, applied also to the nonesuch, or black medic. See Clover, and Medic. 2. An ornamental foliation consisting of three divisions, or foils. 3. A charge representing the clover leaf. Origin: L. Tres three + E. Foil leaf; cf. F. Frefle, It. Trifoglio, L. Trifolium. See Tri-, Foil leaf, and cf. Trifoly. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| trefoil dermatitis | A form of photosensitization that occurs in horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs from eating several types of clover and alfalfa. Synonym: clover disease, trefoil dermatitis. Origin: L. Trifolium, trefoil, clover (05 Mar 2000) |
| trefoil polypeptide | A group of polypeptides that share the trefoil moiety of a highly stable three-loop structure held together by disulfide bonds based on cysteine residues; they are widely expressed in gastrointestinal tissues and secreted by mucous cells; their functions are as yet unknown. (05 Mar 2000) |
| trefoil tendon | A three-lobed fibrous sheet occupying the centre of the diaphragm. Synonym: centrum tendineum diaphragmatis, trefoil tendon. Central tendon of perineum, the fibromuscular mass between the anal canal and the urogenital diaphragm in the median plane; midline episiotomies extend into this structure. Synonym: centrum tendineum perinei, perineal body, Savage's perineal body. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bean trefoil | <botany> A leguminous shrub of southern Europe, with trifoliate leaves (Anagyris foetida). Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| water trefoil | <botany> The buck bean. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |