From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcalyxca‧lyx /ˈkeɪlɪks, ˈkæ- $ ˈkeɪ-/ noun (plural calyxes or calyces /-ləsiːz/) [countable] HBPthe green outer part of a flower that protects it before it opens
Examples from the Corpus
calyx• Flowers are white; after flowering, the fruit is quite covered by the broadened calyx.• The floral examples include a large lotus calyx and two ivy leaves joined by a slight fillet.• Stem, calyx, and arms are all made of calcite plates.• Gallygaskins A single primrose with a distorted and swollen calyx.• Each has a central body, the calyx, rising from a stem like the seed-head of a poppy.• Pantaloon Rather like a Jackanapes, but with the colour in the calyx running around the edge like a frill.• The five-fold symmetry is often hard to detect in the calyx as a whole, although five food grooves are usually developed.• Food grooves in the arms channel the food to the mouth, which lies in the centre of the calyx.Origin calyx (1600-1700) Latin Greek kalyx 