detumescence

[ dee-too-mes-uhns, -tyoo- ]

noun

reduction or subsidence of swelling.

Origin of detumescence

1670–80; <Latin dētumēsc(ere) to cease swelling (dē-de- + tumēscere to swell) + -ence; see tumescent

Other words from detumescence

de·tu·mes·cent, adjective

Words Nearby detumescence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use detumescence in a sentence

But in these cases also, the complete fusion of the processes of detumescence and contrectation occurs very gradually.
The Sexual Life of the Child | Albert Moll
This is true of both components of the sexual impulse, of the phenomena of contrectation, no less than of those of detumescence.
The Sexual Life of the Child | Albert Moll
The detumescence-impulse is sometimes the sole manifestation of the sexual impulse.
The Sexual Life of the Child | Albert Moll
It is equally an incident, highly important though not primitive and fundamental, of detumescence.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3 (of 6) | Havelock Ellis
A state of tumescence is not normally constant, and tumescence must be obtained before detumescence is possible.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3 (of 6) | Havelock Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for detumescence

detumescence

/ (ˌdiːtjʊˈmɛsəns) /

noun

the subsidence of a swelling, esp the return of a swollen organ, such as the penis, to the flaccid state

Origin of detumescence

C17: from Latin dētumescere to cease swelling, from de- + tumescere, from tumēre to swell

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse