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Definition of "excrescence" [ex•cres•cence]

  • An outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart. (noun)
  • A usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion: "Independent agencies were an excrescence on the Constitution” ( Los Angeles Times). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "excrescence" in a sentence
  • "Let us also note that the lower pole expands into the umbilical excrescence, which is less easy of perforation than those parts protected by the skin alone."
  • "During the first year he has no horns, but a horny excrescence, which is short and rough, and covered with a thin hairy skin."
  • "Directly across Tremont Street from the corner where I stood was the entrance to the Old Burying Ground, which occupies a kind of excrescence of land off Boston Common-that is, the area is attached but not a part of the Common proper."