Meanings
plural cauliflower ears
- boxingAn ear swollen and deformed by repeated blows, common among boxers and rugby players.
A huge man with a notable cauliflower ear was peering into the car, a scowl of suspicion upon his face.
1928 February 25 – March 3, Arthur Conan Doyle, “When the World Screamed”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 5601 more example
Having gone in a lot for boxing from his earliest years, he had the cauliflower ear of which I had spoken to Aunt Dahlia and in addition to this a nose which some hidden hand had knocked slightly out of the straight.
1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter III, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLCSynonyms: perichondrial hematoma
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn ear swollen and deformed by repeated blows, common among boxers and rugby players.
Translations
Afrikaans perskeoor
- perskeoorswollen and deformed outer ear
Chinese Mandarin 柔道耳
- 柔道耳swollen and deformed outer ear
Danish blomkålsøre
- blomkålsøreswollen and deformed outer ear
Finnish kukkakaalikorva
- kukkakaalikorvaswollen and deformed outer ear
French oreille en chou-fleur
- oreille en chou-fleurswollen and deformed outer ear
German Blumenkohlohr, Ringerohr
- Blumenkohlohrswollen and deformed outer ear
- Ringerohrswollen and deformed outer ear
Japanese 耳血腫
- 耳血腫swollen and deformed outer ear
Norwegian Bokmål blomkåløre
- blomkåløreswollen and deformed outer ear
Polish ucho zapaśnika
- ucho zapaśnikaswollen and deformed outer ear
Welsh clust dew, clust golifflŵar
- clust dewswollen and deformed outer ear
- clust golifflŵarswollen and deformed outer ear
Cite this entry
cauliflower ear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cauliflower%20ear
“cauliflower ear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cauliflower%20ear. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cauliflower ear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cauliflower%20ear.
Source: cauliflower ear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.