Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

s, fats and other loose connective tissues, but sometimes excluding non-muscular

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

s ( liver,

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

, spleen, kidney) and typically discarded parts (hard tendon, brain tissue,

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

s, etc.). In a

culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of outline of food preparation, food preparation, cooking and food presentation, presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as res ...

context, consumable animal flesh is called

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

, while processed visceral tissues are known as offal. In particular animal groups such as vertebrates, molluscs and

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

, the flesh is distinguished from tougher body structures such as bone, shell and scute, respectively. In plants, the "flesh" is the juicy, edible structures such as the mesocarp of fruits and melons as well as soft tubers,

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s and taproots, as opposed to tougher structures like nuts and

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

s. In fungi, ''flesh'' refers to trama, the soft, inner portion of a mushroom, or fruit body. A more restrictive usage may be found in some contexts, such as the visual arts, where ''flesh'' may refer only to visibly exposed human skin, as opposed to parts of the body covered by clothing and

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

. ''Flesh'' as a descriptor for colour usually refers to the non- melanated pale or pinkish skin colour of white humans, however, it can also be used to refer to the colour of any human skin. In

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

religious circles, the flesh is a metaphor associated with carnality.

Gallery

File:Standing-rib-roast.jpg, Cow flesh ( beef) File:Papaya - longitudinal section.jpg, Flesh of a papaya fruit File:Boletus erythropus 2010 G1.jpg, Cut mushroom ('' Neoboletus luridiformis'') revealing blue flesh

References

Tissues (biology) Vertebrate anatomy Art history {{Anatomy-stub