Kérnel. [cẏrnel, a gland, Saxon; karne, Dutch; cerneau, French.]
- The edible substance contained in a shell.
As brown in hue
As hazle nuts, and sweeter than the kernels. Shakespeare.There can be no kernel in this light nut; the soul of this man is his clothes. Shakesp. All's well that ends well.
The kernel of the nut serves them for bread and meat, and the shells for cups. More.
- Any thing included in a husk or integument.
The kernel of a grape, the fig's small grain,
Can cloath a mountain, and o'ershade a plain. Denham.Oats are ripe when the straw turns yellow and the kernel hard. Mortimer's Husbandry.
- The seeds of pulpy fruits.
I think he will carry this island home in his pocket, and give it his son for an apple. — And sowing the kernels of it in the sea, bring forth more islands. Shakes. Tempest.
The apple inclosed in wax was as fresh as at the first putting in, and the kernels continued white. Bacon's Nat. Hist.
- The central part of any thing upon which the ambient strata are concreted.
A solid body in the bladder makes the kernel of a stone. Arb.
- Knobby concretions in childrens flesh.
