whitlow

American

[hwit-loh, wit-] / ˈʰwɪt loʊ, ˈwɪt- /

noun

an inflammation of the deeper tissues of a finger or toe, especially of the terminal phalanx, usually producing suppuration.

whitlow British

/ ˈwɪtləʊ /

noun

any pussy inflammation of the end of a finger or toe

"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

Etymology

Origin of whitlow

1350–1400; Middle English whit ( f ) lowe, whitflawe. See white, flaw ¹

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.

See Examples For:

whitlow

According to the NHS website, the symptoms of a whitlow can vary from a small bump to open lesions - meaning they can go undetected.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2021

He says it is possible the surgeon may have had a herpetic whitlow - a herpes infection on the finger - which could have "directly seeded the herpes into the abdomen of the women".

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2021

Purulent solutions of continuity; as ulcer, cancer, caries, fistula, whitlow.

From Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural History by William MacGillivray

In cases of whitlow in which the distal phalanx alone has necrosed, removal of the necrosed bone by forceps is generally all that is necessary.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Joseph Bell

Another Old French word, once common in English, but now found only in dialect, is felon, a whitlow.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023