CARBUNCLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does carbuncle mean? 

• CARBUNCLE (noun)
  The noun CARBUNCLE has 2 senses:

1. deep-red cabochon garnet cut without facets

2. an infection larger than a boil and with several openings for discharge of pus

  Familiarity information: CARBUNCLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARBUNCLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deep-red cabochon garnet cut without facets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("carbuncle" is a kind of...):

garnet (any of a group of hard glassy minerals (silicates of various metals) used as gemstones and as an abrasive)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An infection larger than a boil and with several openings for discharge of pus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("carbuncle" is a kind of...):

staphylococcal infection (an infection with staphylococcus bacteria; usually marked by abscess formation)

Derivation:

carbuncular (afflicted with or resembling a carbuncle)

 Context examples 

You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles; and through the muffle and smother of these fallen clouds, the procession of the town’s life was still rolling in through the great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, brilliant, many-pointed radiance.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Not the Countess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He rummaged amid his newspapers, glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)