detumescence

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

/ ˌdi tuˈmɛs əns, -tyu- /

Save This Word!

noun

reduction or subsidence of swelling.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

de trop, detrude, detruncate, detrusion, detrusor, detumescence, Deucalion, deuce, deuce court, deuced, deucedly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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

Word Origin for 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

Medical definitions for detumescence

detumescence

[ dē′tōō-mĕs′əns ]

Reduction, subsidence, or lessening of a swelling, especially the restoration of a swollen organ or part to normal size.