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quinsy

American  
[kwin-zee] / ˈkwɪn zi /

noun

Pathology.
  1. a suppurative inflammation of the tonsils; suppurative tonsillitis; tonsillar abscess.


quinsy British  
/ ˈkwɪnzɪ /

noun

  1. inflammation of the tonsils and surrounding tissues with the formation of abscesses

"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

  • quinsied adjective

Etymology

Origin of quinsy

1300–50; Middle English quin ( e ) sie < Medieval Latin quinancia, Late Latin cynanchē < Greek kynánchē sore throat

Vocabulary lists containing quinsy

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.

At the doctor's, he is likely to complain of "a poisoning, a noseache, an eye-pain or quinsy," followed by a plaintive "Must I undress?"

From Time Magazine Archive

S. C.'s Fort Moultrie where he died after three months, officially of "a quinsy."

From Time Magazine Archive

The boy's voice "is a weak bass, thick, husky, mumbling and comparable to the enunciation of a patient with an acute quinsy."

From Time Magazine Archive

When these stories reached Secretary Woodin as he lay ill with quinsy in his Carlton Hotel apartment, he summoned newshawks to his bedside.

From Time Magazine Archive

Treatment.—A thorough painting of the tonsils at the onset of a threatened attack of quinsy with the silver-nitrate solution, as recommended under tonsilitis, may cut short the disorder.

From The Home Medical Library, Volume II (of VI) by Winslow, Kenelm