pus

[puhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pus ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a yellow-white, more or less viscid substance produced by suppuration and found in abscesses, sores, etc., consisting of a liquid plasma in which white blood cells are suspended.

Origin of pus

1535–45; < Latin; akin to Greek pýon pus. See pyo-

Related formspus·like, adjective

Can be confusedpus puss

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

Examples from the Web for pus

Swelling, pus, the whole shebang; an angry reaction that lasted weeks.
Uh Oh: Ebola Vaccine Trials Stop|Leigh Cowart|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At that point, Tyson had become a scavenger spewing bile and pus.
Bloody Brilliant|Stanley Crouch|April 24, 2009|DAILY BEAST
When bacteria were suspended in olive oil or in pus, chlorlyptus showed marked germicidal action.
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2|Various
In cases at first closed the pus may burst out later, coming from the back part of the navel and the swelling extending backward.
Special Report on Diseases of Cattle|U.S. Department of Agriculture

This, if pus is present, is followed by a painful swelling of the coronet.
Diseases of the Horse's Foot|Harry Caulton Reeks
Pus escapes into the middle meatus of the nose, and if wiped away will reappear if the head is kept erect for a few minutes.
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities--Head--Neck. Sixth Edition.|Alexander Miles
Olympus (Olym′pus) was the magnificent mountain on the coast of Thessaly, 9,000 feet high, where the gods were supposed to reside.
1000 Mythological Characters Briefly Described|Edward S. Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for pus

pus

noun

the yellow or greenish fluid product of inflammation, composed largely of dead leucocytes, exuded plasma, and liquefied tissue cells

Word Origin for pus

C16: from Latin pūs; related to Greek puon pus

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

Word Origin and History for pus

late 14c., from Latin pus "pus, matter from a sore;" figuratively "bitterness, malice" (related to puter "rotten;" cf. putrid), from PIE *pu- (2) "to rot, decay" (cf. Sanskrit puyati "rots, stinks," putih "stinking, foul;" Greek puon "discharge from a sore," pythein "to cause to rot;" Gothic fuls, Old English ful "foul"), perhaps originally echoic of a natural exclamation of disgust.