Definition of "circumvallate" []

• To surround with or as if with a rampart. (verb-transitive)
• Surrounded with or as if with a rampart. (adjective)
• Anatomy Surrounded by a ridge or raised, wall-like structure. (adjective)

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.

• "Towards the root of the tongue is another kind of papillæ, the circumvallate, eight to fifteen in number, arranged in the form of the letter V, with the apex directed backwards."
• "Taste is most acute in or near the circumvallate papillæ."
• "In many of the fungiform and most of the circumvallate papillæ are peculiar structures called taste buds or taste goblets."