资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Byssus \Bys"sus\, n.; pl. E. {Byssuses}; L. {Byssi}.[L. byssus
   fine flax, fine linen or cotton, Gr. by`ssos .]
   1. A cloth of exceedingly fine texture, used by the ancients.
      It is disputed whether it was of cotton, linen, or silk.
      [Written also {byss} and {byssin}.]

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A tuft of long, tough filaments which are
      formed in a groove of the foot, and issue from between the
      valves of certain bivalve mollusks, as the {Pinna} and
      {Mytilus}, by which they attach themselves to rocks, etc.

   3. (Bot.) An obsolete name for certain fungi composed of
      slender threads.

   4. Asbestus.

资料来源 : WordNet®

byssi
     See {byssus}

byssus
     n : tuft of strong filaments by which e.g. a mussel makes itself
         fast to a fixed surface [syn: {beard}]
     [also: {byssi} (pl)]