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Infection
//ɪnˈfɛkʃən// noun
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act or process of infecting. countable, uncountable
- 2 (international law) illegality that taints or contaminates a ship or cargo rendering it liable to seizure wordnet
- 3 An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host. countable, uncountable
"An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time."
- 4 moral corruption or contamination wordnet
- 5 A disease caused by such presence of a pathogen. countable, uncountable
"As the previously used chemotherapeutic agents have only proved themselves to be spirochetostatic and not spirochetocidal, the patient is liable to a delayed infection which may not become manifest for years."
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- 6 the communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people wordnet
- 7 A visible sign of such a disease, such as the suppuration of a wound. countable, uncountable
- 8 an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted wordnet
- 9 (medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease wordnet
- 10 (phonetics) the alteration of a speech sound under the influence of a neighboring sound wordnet
- 11 the pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms wordnet
Etymology
From Old French infection, from Late Latin īnfectiō. Equivalent to infect + -ion.
See also for "infection"
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