| tuft | 1. A collection of small, flexible, or soft things in a knot or bunch; a waving or bending and spreading cluster; as, a tuft of flowers or feathers. 2. A cluster; a clump; as, a tuft of plants. "Under a tuft of shade." (Milton) "Green lake, and cedar fuft, and spicy glade." (Keble) 3. A nobleman, or person of quality, especially in the English universities; so called from the tuft, or gold tassel, on the cap worn by them. "Several young tufts, and others of the faster men." (T. Hughes) Origin: Prov. E. Tuff, F. Touffe; of German origin; cf. G. Zopf a weft of hair, pigtail, top of a tree. See Top summit. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| tufted | 1. Adorned with a tuft; as, the tufted duck. 2. Growing in tufts or clusters; tufty. "The tufted crowtoe, and pale jessamine." (Milton) "Tufted trees and springing corn. <zoology>" (Pope) Tufted duck, the ring-necked duck. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| tufted cell | A particular type of cell in the olfactory bulb comparable to the bulb's mitral cell with respect to afferent and efferent relationships, but smaller and more superficially located. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tufted phalanx | One of the terminal phalanges of the fingers in acromegaly; it has an expanded extremity resembling a sheaf of wheat. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tuftsin | <chemical> N(2)-(1-(n(2)-l-threonyl)-l-lysyl)-l-prolyl)-l-arginine. A tetrapeptide produced in the spleen by enzymatic cleavage of a leukophilic gamma-globulin. It stimulates the phagocytic activity of blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes and neutrophils in particular. The peptide is located in the fd fragment of the gamma-globulin molecule. Chemical name: L-Arginine, N2-(1-(N2-L-threonyl-L-lysyl)-L-prolyl)- (12 Dec 1998) |
| malpighian tuft | <anatomy, nephrology> One of the structures which comprise the nephron (functional unit) in the kidney. The glomerulus is composed of capillary blood vessels which are actively involved in the filtration of the blood. (27 Sep 1997) |
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| enamel tuft | A group of structures representing defects in tooth mineralization that extend from the dentino-enamel junction into the enamel to about one-half its thickness. (05 Mar 2000) |