wart

n 1: any small rounded protuberance (as on certain plants or

animals)

2: (pathology) a firm abnormal elevated blemish on the skin;

caused by a virus [syn: {verruca}]

wart

A small, {crock}y {feature} that sticks out of an otherwise

{clean} design. Something conspicuous for localised ugliness,

especially a special-case exception to a general rule. For

example, in some versions of "csh(1)", single quotes

literalise every character inside them except "!". In ANSI C,

the "?" syntax used for obtaining ASCII characters in a

foreign environment is a wart. See also {miswart}.

[{Jargon File}]