goitre

/ ˈɡɔɪtə /

noun

1. pathol a swelling of the thyroid gland, in some cases nearly doubling the size of the neck, usually caused by under- or overproduction of hormone by the gland

Other Word Forms

• goitred adjective
• goitrous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of goitre¹

C17: from French goitre, from Old French goitron, ultimately from Latin guttur throat

Example Sentences

Here and there we passed Cszeks and Slovaks, all in picturesque attire, but I noticed that goitre was painfully prevalent.

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Hernia, goitre and the flowering boil Lie bare beneath his hands, for ever bare.

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His self-esteem swelled, a goitre of patriotic pride.

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By the early 1930s international Shanghai was, as Paul French puts it, “a festering goitre of badness”.

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A dead dog was lying on a rubbish heap; a woman with a goitre was looking for lice in the hair of a small girl.

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