protuberance

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UK/pɹəˈtjuː.bə.ɹəns/US/pɹəˈtuː.bɚ.əns/

noun

A bulge, knob, swelling, spine, or anything that protrudes.

UncommonScrabble 18

Meanings

nounprotuberance (plural protuberances)

plural protuberances

  1. A bulge, knob, swelling, spine, or anything that protrudes.

    Ever since their creation the Daleks have been attempting to conquer and enslave as much of the universe as they could get their grubby little protuberances on.

    1989, Ben Aaronovitch, Remembrance of the Daleks
    3 more examples

    For the most part they were small standard gauge 0-6-0 side tanks of the type illustrated, with long tapered chimneys and an unusual feature for the Continent in the shape of domeless boilers, the protuberance just behind the chimney being a sandbox.

    1941 August, “Notes and News: The Swiss South Eastern Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 376

    Oluanpi's lighthouse looks toward Lanyu, or Orchid Island, a tiny, rocky protuberance sixty-eight miles to the southeast and important because it is the home of the Yami, the smallest and most primitive tribe of aborigines in Taiwan.

    1979 November, Irene Corbally Kuhn, “Gourmet Holidays Taiwan”, in Gourmet, volume XXXIX, number 11, page 164

    The orchestra is gone. All seventy of them. The things which have replaced them are not human but alien, ill-proportioned pillars of pinkish-brownish flesh. Each has, at its top, a heavy protuberance studded with goopy biological sensors and rubbery openings, and, sprouting from the very cap, lengths of various kinds of vile, off-coloured moss. They are draped in black and white fabrics, weirdly cut to either conceal or highlight their blobby, inconsistent body structures.

    2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 137

    Synonyms: bulge, bump, protrusion, tuberosity

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA bulge, knob, swelling, spine, or anything that protrudes.

More synonyms by meaning

nounsomething that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinprōtubērantia“bulge; protuberance”
  2. Frenchprotubérance
  3. Englishprotuberance

From French protubérance, from Latin prōtubērantia (“bulge; protuberance”), from prō + tūber (“swelling; protuberance”) + -antia (“-ance”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نُتُوء, نَاتِئ
  • نُتُوء (nutūʔ)Something that protrudes
  • نَاتِئ (nātiʔ)Something that protrudes
Bulgarian издаденост, изпъкналост
  • издаденост (izdadenost)Something that protrudes
  • изпъкналост (izpăknalost)Something that protrudes
  • подутина (podutina)Something that protrudes
Catalan protuberància
  • protuberànciaSomething that protrudes
Czech výčnělek
  • výčnělekSomething that protrudes
Dutch gezwel, uitwas
  • gezwelSomething that protrudes
  • uitwasSomething that protrudes
  • uitgroeiselSomething that protrudes
Finnish pullistuma, patti
  • pullistumaSomething that protrudes
  • pattiSomething that protrudes
  • paiseSomething that protrudes
  • ulkonemaSomething that protrudes
  • ulokeSomething that protrudes
French saillie, protubérance
  • saillieSomething that protrudes
  • protubéranceSomething that protrudes
German Protuberanz, Vorsprung
  • ProtuberanzSomething that protrudes
  • VorsprungSomething that protrudes
  • SchwellungSomething that protrudes
  • HervortretenSomething that protrudes
  • AuswuchsSomething that protrudes
  • HervorschwellungSomething that protrudes
  • KnubbelSomething that protrudes
  • BeuleSomething that protrudes
  • GratSomething that protrudes
  • AusbuchtungSomething that protrudes
Irish meall, cnap
  • meallSomething that protrudes
  • cnapSomething that protrudes
  • boiricSomething that protrudes
  • fadharcánSomething that protrudes
  • breallSomething that protrudes
  • cíochSomething that protrudes
  • tulSomething that protrudes
  • tulánSomething that protrudes
Italian protuberanza
  • protuberanzaSomething that protrudes
Latin tūber, protuberantia
  • tūberSomething that protrudes
  • protuberantiaSomething that protrudes
Māori kou, pūreke
  • kouSomething that protrudes
  • pūrekeSomething that protrudes
  • tīngoingoiSomething that protrudes
Polish wypukłość, zgrubienie
  • wypukłośćSomething that protrudes
  • zgrubienieSomething that protrudes
Portuguese protuberância, saliência
  • protuberânciaSomething that protrudes
  • saliênciaSomething that protrudes
Russian вы́ступ, вы́пуклость
  • вы́ступ (výstup)Something that protrudes
  • вы́пуклость (výpuklostʹ)Something that protrudes
  • бугоро́к (bugorók)Something that protrudes
Spanish protuberancia
  • protuberanciaSomething that protrudes
Swedish knöl
  • knölSomething that protrudes
Cite this entry
APA

protuberance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protuberance

MLA

“protuberance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protuberance. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “protuberance,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protuberance.

Source: protuberance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.