malacia

American

[muh-ley-shuh, -shee-uh, -see-uh] / məˈleɪ ʃə, -ʃi ə, -si ə /

noun

Pathology.

softening, or loss of consistency, of an organ or tissue.
an abnormal craving for highly spiced food.

malacia British

/ məˈleɪʃɪə /

noun

the pathological softening of an organ or tissue, such as bone

"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

malacoid adjective
malacotic adjective

Etymology

Origin of malacia

1650–60; < New Latin < Greek malakía softness, tenderness, weakness. See malaco-, -ia

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.

Maisie, who featured in BBC2's Great Ormond Street series last year, also has malacia of the airways, so her airways are floppy like the top of a balloon and do not hold their shape properly.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023