pus

American  

[puhs] / pʌs /

noun

1. 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.

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pus British  

/ pʌs /

noun

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

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pus Scientific  

/ pŭs /

1. A thick, yellowish-white liquid that forms in infected body tissues, consisting of white blood cells, dead tissue, and cellular debris.

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Other Word Forms

• puslike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pus

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

Explanation

Pus is the yucky yellowish stuff that oozes out of an infected cut or pimple. Medically speaking, pus is made up of various types of white blood cells that have died. Bacteria can cause infections, and when the infected area becomes inflamed, pus often forms and collects under the skin. A boil or pimple full of pus can be painful, and seeing pus in a wound is a sign that you should go to the doctor, who will prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection and may also drain the pus. The Latin pus means "matter from a sore" but also "bitterness or malice."

Example Sentences

Pus from the sores of an infected person are filled with contagious virus.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 18, 2022

Pus there are many variations on the male-female scale.

From New York Times • Apr. 25, 2017

Pus is compounded of dead bacteria, dead leucocytes.

From Time Magazine Archive

As their offspring developed, a strange mutation occurred among the Kos, the Yangs and the Pus.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Matter she spit up was yellow, and had the Appearance of Pus; and she complained of a Pain in the left Side of the Thorax.

From An Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British military hospitals in Germany by Monro, Donald