Abscess

//ˈæbsɛs// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cavity caused by tissue destruction, usually because of infection, filled with pus and surrounded by inflamed tissue.
  2. 2
    symptom consisting of a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To form a pus-filled cavity, typically from an infection. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
agueanemiaankylosisanoxiaapneaaposteme

Example

More examples

"He had an abscess on his tonsil."

Etymology

From Latin abscessus (“a going away; gathering of humors, abscess”), from abscēdō (“go away, depart”), from abs (“away from”) + cēdō (“go”). See cede.

Related phrases

Bartholin abscessBrodie's abscessabbey-countershirt-stud abscessabscess rootblind abscesscold abscesscollar stud abscesscollar-button abscessdeep abscessdry abscesshot abscessmiliary abscess

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.