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
nut
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
s 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
''Neoboletus praestigator'', also previously known as ''Neoboletus luridiformis'', ''Boletus luridiformis'' and (invalidly) as ''Boletus erythropus'', is a fungus of the bolete family, all of which produce mushrooms with tubes and pores benea ...
'') revealing blue flesh
References
Tissues (biology)
Vertebrate anatomy
Art history
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