'Sclerenchyma' definitions:

Definition of 'Sclerenchyma'

From: GCIDE
  • Sclerenchyma \Scle*ren"chy*ma\, n. [NL., from Gr. sklhro`s hard + -enchyma as in parenchyma.]
  • 1. (Bot.) Vegetable tissue composed of short cells with thickened or hardened walls, as in nutshells and the gritty parts of a pear. See Sclerotic. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: By recent German writers and their English translators, this term is used for liber cells. --Goodale. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Zool.) The hard calcareous deposit in the tissues of Anthozoa, constituting the stony corals. [1913 Webster]