A globule is a small, round drop of liquid or semi-liquid substance. Picture a droplet of honey slowly dripping from a spoon: that golden sphere hanging in the air is a globule. When you shake a bottle of salad dressing, tiny globules of oil float through the vinegar. When candle wax melts and drips down the side, it forms waxy globules that harden as they cool.

The word emphasizes both the roundness and the smallness of the drop. Scientists use it to describe everything from fat globules in milk (which give whole milk its creamy richness) to globules of mercury that break into tiny silver balls when spilled. You might notice globules of paint floating in a cup of dirty brush-cleaning water, or globules of molten lava bursting from a volcano.

While drop or droplet can describe any liquid, globule suggests something thicker, rounder, or more substantial. A globule holds its spherical shape rather than splashing flat right away when it falls.