gas gangrene

noun Pathology.

a gangrenous infection developing in wounds, especially deep wounds with closed spaces, caused by bacteria that form gases in the subcutaneous tissues.

Nearby words

gas exchange, gas field, gas fitter, gas fitting, gas furnace, gas gangrene, gas gangrene antitoxin, gas giant, gas guzzler, gas jet, gas law

Origin of gas gangrene

First recorded in 1910–15

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gas gangrene

The next day the gas-gangrene appeared above the knee-joint.
Combed Out|Fritz August Voigt
Gas-gangrene had set in and the stench was almost unendurable.
Combed Out|Fritz August Voigt

British Dictionary definitions for gas gangrene

gas gangrene

noun

gangrene resulting from infection of a wound by anaerobic bacteria (esp Clostridium welchii) that cause gas bubbles and swelling in the surrounding tissues

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

Medicine definitions for gas gangrene

gas gangrene

n.

A form of gangrene occurring in a wound infected with anaerobic bacteria, especially species of Clostridium, and characterized by the presence of gas in the affected tissue and constitutional septic symptoms.