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Showing results for empyema. Search instead for empyemata.

empyema

American  
[em-pee-ee-muh, -pahy-] / ˌɛm piˈi mə, -paɪ- /

noun

Pathology.
  1. a collection of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity.


empyema British  
/ ˌɛmpaɪˈiːmə /

noun

  1. a collection of pus in a body cavity, esp in the chest

"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

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of empyema

1605–15; < Late Latin < Greek empýēma abscess, equivalent to em- em- 2 + pyē- (variant stem of pyeîn to suppurate, akin to pýon, pýos pus) + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He said she died as a result of bronchopneumonia with empyema due to invasive streptococcal infection.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2024

One of the most serious complications met in treating tuberculosis is what the doctors call empyema, i.e., the cavity between a lung and the chest wall fills with pus.

From Time Magazine Archive

In two cases where trypsin failed, the empyema was of long standing and the cavity walls had become rigid.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dr. Livingston Farrand, 72, modest, beloved president-emeritus of Cornell University; of bronchopneumonia and empyema; in Manhattan.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sinuses associated with empyema are prevented from healing by the rigidity of the chest wall, and will only close after an operation which admits of the cavity being obliterated.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson

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