From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishabscessab‧scess /ˈæbses/ noun [countable] MIa painful swollen part of your skin or inside your body that has become infected and is full of a yellowish liquid
Examples from the Corpus
abscess• The operation was successful, and Gandhi thanked the doctor profusely, but an abscess developed and recovery was slow.• Three months later, the patient had fever and headache which led to the diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis with multiple cerebral abscesses.• A foot abscess had cast doubts on the colt's participation in the Epsom Classic on Wednesday week.• A tame rabbit was brought in with a large abscess about the size of an egg on its cheek.• Rare occurrences of intracranial hematoma or abscess have also been reported.• I remember his refusal of anesthesia when he had an operation on his leg and again a seri-ous abscess on his jaw.• The nasal discharge and the discharge from the abscesses is highly infectious and this is how strangles is spread to other horses.• He told me that was why I had the abscess.Origin abscess (1500-1600) Latin abscessus “act of going away, abscess”, from abscedere, from abs- “away” + cedere “to go” 