sequestrum
Americannoun
plural
sequestranoun
Usage
What is a sequestrum? A sequestrum is a fragment of dead bone or other tissue that has separated from healthy tissue as a result of injury or disease. The proper plural of sequestrum is sequestra. Sequestra often end up in a wound or abscess (a collection of pus). The surgical procedure involving the removal of a sequestrum is called a sequestrectomy. Sequestra can occur in many different areas of the body, such as the arms, legs, feet, spine, and hips. Example: The sequestrum is a bone fragment that was apparently chipped during a particularly forceful high-five.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sequestrum
1825–35; < New Latin; Medieval Latin: sequestrated property, derivative of Latin sequester; see sequester
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.
Sequestration also refers to the government seizing the goods of citizens and can even identify the formation of a sequestrum, a detached piece of bone lying within a body cavity caused by necrosis.
From Time • Feb. 11, 2013
The separation of the sequestrum takes place more rapidly in the spongy bone of the ossifying junction than in the compact bone of the shaft.
From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis
The disease commences in the diploë, and results in the formation of a central sequestrum, around and beneath which the tuberculous process spreads.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander
The sequestrum that forms includes, as a rule, only the outer table, but in some cases the whole thickness of the bone undergoes necrosis.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Miles, Alexander
In cases attended with suppuration, the swelling is incised and drained, and if there is a sequestrum, it must be removed.
From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Thomson, Alexis
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.
