infection
an infecting agency or influence.
an infectious disease: Is this infection very dangerous?
the condition of suffering an infection.
corruption of another's opinions, beliefs, moral principles, etc.; moral contamination.
an influence or impulse passing from one to another and affecting feeling or action.
Grammar. (in Celtic languages) assimilation in which a vowel is influenced by a following vowel or semivowel; umlaut.
Origin of infection
1Other words from infection
- non·in·fec·tion, noun
- post·in·fec·tion, adjective
- pre·in·fec·tion, noun
- re·in·fec·tion, noun
- sub·in·fec·tion, noun
Words that may be confused with infection
- infection , inflection
Words Nearby infection
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use infection in a sentence
So even though cases overall grew, hospitalizations and deaths were down — and that makes sense because younger people are more likely to experience mild or symptom-free infections.
That could increase the infection risk in shared spaces including offices, restaurants, and movie theaters.
Wildfire smoke and COVID-19 are a one-two punch for indoor air quality across the U.S. | dzanemorris | September 17, 2020 | FortuneThe underlying level of infection remains high, however, and the virus is still passing freely from person to person in much of the country.
Courts may reconsider temporary coronavirus restrictions as pandemic drags on | Anne Gearan, Karin Brulliard | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostIn other words, it’s hard to predict how many people might die of widespread infection.
The problem with Trump’s ‘herd mentality’ line isn’t the verbal flub. It’s the mass death. | Philip Bump | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostSome feared coming to work while others walked out of plants to protest the lack of infection control measures.
Emails Show the Meatpacking Industry Drafted an Executive Order to Keep Plants Open | by Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung | September 14, 2020 | ProPublica
Four weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection.
The following year, he developed pneumocystis pneumonia—a serious infection associated with HIV and AIDS.
A fair number explicitly ask for an antibiotic, to cover the possibility that it is “bronchitis” or a “sinus infection.”
Without Education, Antibiotic Resistance Will Be Our Greatest Health Crisis | Russell Saunders | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFirst, bubonic (rhymes with pneumonic but is altogether different) is a local infection sequestered in a lymph node.
Bubonic Plague Is Back (but It Never Really Left) | Kent Sepkowitz | November 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo, not Ebola, but rather infection with the dreaded bacterium, Yersinia pestis.
Bubonic Plague Is Back (but It Never Really Left) | Kent Sepkowitz | November 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is still a general tendency in universities on both sides of the Atlantic to treat propaganda as infection.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsChyluria occurs most frequently as a symptom of infection by Filaria sanguinis hominis.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddA mild degree means that the body is not reacting well, or else that the infection is too slight to call forth much resistance.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Toddinfection in man occurs from ingestion of insufficiently cooked pork, which contains encysted embryos.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddTuberculous pleurisy due to direct extension from the lung may give excess of polymorphonuclears owing to mixed infection.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for infection
/ (ɪnˈfɛkʃən) /
invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms
the resulting condition in the tissues
an infectious disease
the act of infecting or state of being infected
an agent or influence that infects
persuasion or corruption, as by ideas, perverse influences, etc
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
Scientific definitions for infection
[ ĭn-fĕk′shən ]
The invasion of the body of a human or an animal by a pathogen such as a bacterium, fungus, or virus. Infections can be localized, as in pharyngitis, or widespread as in sepsis, and are often accompanied by fever and an increased number of white blood cells. Individuals with immunodeficiency syndromes are predisposed to certain infections. See also infectious disease opportunistic infection.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for infection
Invasion of the body or a body part by a pathogenic organism, which multiplies and produces harmful effects on the body's tissues.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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