gangrene

American  

[gang-green, gang-green] / ˈgæŋ grin, gæŋˈgrin /

noun

1. necrosis or death of soft tissue due to obstructed circulation, usually followed by decomposition and putrefaction.

2. moral or spiritual corruption and decadence that pervades an individual or group.

   “This church body has been afflicted with a spiritual gangrene that is poisoning our relationship with the Lord,” the preacher expostulated.

   Synonyms:

   degeneracy, depravity, rot, decay

---

verb (used with or without object)

gangrened, gangrening

1. to affect or become affected with gangrene.

gangrene British  

/ ˈɡæŋɡriːn, ˈɡæŋɡrɪnəs /

noun

1. death and decay of tissue as the result of interrupted blood supply, disease, or injury

2. moral decay or corruption

---

verb

1. to become or cause to become affected with gangrene

gangrene Scientific  

/ găng′grēn′ /

1. Death of tissue in a living body, especially in a limb, caused by a bacterial infection resulting from a blockage of the blood supply to the affected tissue.

---

gangrene Cultural  

1. The death and decay of body tissue owing to insufficient supply of blood.

---

Other Word Forms

• gangrenous adjective
• nongangrenous adjective
• ungangrened adjective
• ungangrenous adjective

Etymology

Origin of gangrene

First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French gangrene (earlier cancrene ), from Latin gangraena, from Greek gángraina “an eating sore”

Compare meaning

How does gangrene compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• gangrene vs. necrosis

Example Sentences

To really investigate gangrene, he would need to go where infection was far more plentiful; not the battlefield, but the hospital.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

Nursing employees told the investigators that the 69-year-old man, who had been admitted with gangrene on his feet, was often confused and sometimes tried to pull out his tubes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2025

Her lower legs were amputated after she developed gangrene at age 7.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

The medics were worried: "Do Merve's feet have gangrene? Or is this the first symptom of hypothermia?"

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2023

If I can’t quite get the hang of poverty-chastity-and-obedience, I can learn instead about vermifuges, breech deliveries, arrow wounds, gangrene, and elephantiasis.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Related Words

• blight
• corrosion
• decomposition
• degeneration
• deterioration
• disintegration
• disrepair
• extinction
• impairment
• rot