wart
nounUK /wɔːt/ · US /wɔɹt/
Etymology From Middle English warte, werte, from Old English wearte, from Proto-West Germanic *wartā, from Proto-Germanic *wartǭ. Cognate with Dutch wrat, German Warze, Hunsrik Waarz, Swedish vårta and Danish vorte.
1
Medicine, Pathology, Sciences A type of deformed growth occurring on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).
- A wart has appeared on my toe.
2
Any similar growth occurring in plants or animals, such as the parotoid glands in the back of toads.
3
Figuratively, Informal Anything unsightly or undesirable; a blemish.
- Things that look too good to be true usually are, and every company has some warts that need to be taken into account.2011, Pat Dorsey, The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing:
4
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences Derogatory, Slang Any of the prefixes used in Hungarian notation.
- Hungarian warts suck big time! If you need them, your functions are too big and your class interface is much too fat.1998, Chris Ahlstrom, “Hungarian notation”, in microsoft.public.vc.language (Usenet):
- Far easier to not use warts in the first place. Even if a wart is present, you still have to verify the variable's declaration anyway, if you're a diligent maintenance programmer.2002, Linonut, “Computer Science”, in comp.os.linux.advocacy (Usenet):
- Derived terms
- butcher's wart, fig-wart, fruit wart, genital wart, Peruvian wart, plantar wart, planter's wart, potato wart, prosector's wart, senile wart, soot wart, wall wart, wart-biter, warthog, warts and all, wart snake, wartsome, warty, warty toad, water wart, woodwart, worrywart
- Related terms
- verruca