Noun: cuticle kyoo-ti-kul
- The dead skin at the base of a fingernail or toenail
"The manicurist gently pushed back her cuticles"
- The outer layer of the skin covering the exterior body surface of vertebrates
"The lizard's cuticle helps prevent water loss";
- epidermis
- Hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
"The beetle's cuticle provided protection from predators";
- carapace, shell, shield
Derived forms: cuticles
Type of: cutis, scute, skin, stratum, tegument
Part of: arthropod, cutis, mollusc, mollusk [N. Amer], shellfish, skin, tegument, turtle
Encyclopedia: Cuticle