Cär'ti-lağe, n.

n. [Fr. cartilage, Lat. cartilago.] (Anal.) A smooth, whitish, translucent, homogeneous, elastic substance, without blood-vessels, and of a consistence between that of a ligament and a bone; gristle. Permanent cartilage, one which keeps its cartilaginous character till late in life, as the cartilages of the ribs, of the joints. — Temporary cartilage, one which gives place to bone in the progress of development. Carpenter.