quinsy
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
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
Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Four Star Words from Annie Proulx's "Rough Deeds"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
Elle had developed quinsy, external - a complication of tonsillitis where a pus-filled abscess grows between your tonsils and the wall of your throat - which turned into sepsis, external.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
S. C.'s Fort Moultrie where he died after three months, officially of "a quinsy."
From Time Magazine Archive
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
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
She has seen Augustine triumphantly through an accident, she has cured Marcel, Augustine's husband, of a quinsy, and she rather likes to be called upon for advice.
From Our House And London out of Our Windows by Elizabeth Robins Pennell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
