pus

American  

[puhs] / pʌs /

noun

1. a yellow-white, more or less viscid substance produced by suppuration and found in abscesses, sores, etc., consisting of a liquid plasma in which white blood cells are suspended.

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pus British  

/ pʌs /

noun

1. the yellow or greenish fluid product of inflammation, composed largely of dead leucocytes, exuded plasma, and liquefied tissue cells

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pus Scientific  

/ pŭs /

1. A thick, yellowish-white liquid that forms in infected body tissues, consisting of white blood cells, dead tissue, and cellular debris.

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Other Word Forms

• puslike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pus

1535–45; < Latin; akin to Greek pýon pus. See pyo-

Explanation

Pus is the yucky yellowish stuff that oozes out of an infected cut or pimple. Medically speaking, pus is made up of various types of white blood cells that have died. Bacteria can cause infections, and when the infected area becomes inflamed, pus often forms and collects under the skin. A boil or pimple full of pus can be painful, and seeing pus in a wound is a sign that you should go to the doctor, who will prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection and may also drain the pus. The Latin pus means "matter from a sore" but also "bitterness or malice."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pus

All Awwal Musa's fingers were clawed and her legs discharged pus.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2025

In Season 2, that was an episode titled "Milkmaids" which centered on people quite literally eating pus and made me also quite literally puke.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2024

It also delivered results in less than four hours for urine, pus, and sputum samples, and within one day for blood samples.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024

It involved deliberately infecting someone with the disease by pricking someone else’s smallpox pustule, removing some pus, and placing that pus inside an incision on the recipient’s arm or thigh.

From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2023

Even the skin of his neck is covered with scabs that look dry until he scratches them and the yellowish pus underneath seeps out.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie