Fusome

//ˈfjuːsəm// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A germ cell-specific organelle assembled from membrane skeletal proteins and membranous vesicles.

    "Cystoblasts/cystocytes also divide asymmetrically, and in doing so, the spectrosome evolves into a branched fusome in the 16-cell cyst (5,37), accumulating proteins like Bam, ankyrin, α- and β-spectrins, the adducinlike product of the hu-li tai shao gene (HtsF), dynein (Dhc64C), and Cyclin A (5,35,36)."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Alternative form of fulsome; offensive; loathsome. Scotland, alt-of, alternative

    "While glakit fools, owr rife o' cash, Pamper their weyms wi' fusome trash, I think a chiel may gayly pass;"

  2. 2
    Handy, deft-handed, workmanlike. UK, dialectal, obsolete

    "What pleas'd him best, the warmed up some keal, And RALF dud mak a varra fusome meal,"

  3. 3
    Neat; handsome, comely, shapely, attractive. UK, dialectal, obsolete

    "She was...as douce and fewsome as ony woman's bairn"

Example

More examples

"While glakit fools, owr rife o' cash, Pamper their weyms wi' fusome trash, I think a chiel may gayly pass;"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Alternative form of fulsome

Etymology 2

From Middle English *fussom, equivalent to fouse (eager, ready, brave, noble) + -some.

Etymology 3

From fuse + -ome.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.