Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A general accumulation of serous fluid in various tissues and body cavities.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, a wide-spread edema or dropsical affection of the skin and subcutaneous connective tissue.
  • noun In botany, the condition of plants when the tissues become gorged with fluid in very wet weather.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Dropsy of the subcutaneous cellular tissue; an effusion of serum into the cellular substance, occasioning a soft, pale, inelastic swelling of the skin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine Generalised oedema

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun generalized edema with accumulation of serum in subcutaneous connective tissue

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin : Greek ana-, throughout; see ana– + Greek sarx, sark-, flesh.]

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Examples

  • Upon the reperusal of this book I found the bishop only asserting his opinion that tar-water might be useful in the dropsy, since he had known it to have a surprising success in the cure of a most stubborn anasarca, which is indeed no other than, as the word implies, the dropsy of the flesh; and this was, at that time, a large part of my complaint.

    The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon 2004

  • Upon the reperusal of this book I found the bishop only asserting his opinion that tar-water might be useful in the dropsy, since he had known it to have a surprising success in the cure of a most stubborn anasarca, which is indeed no other than, as the word implies, the dropsy of the flesh; and this was, at that time, a large part of my complaint.

    The Works of Henry Fielding, Volume Six: Miscellanies 1900

  • Upon the reperusal of this book I found the bishop only asserting his opinion that tar-water might be useful in the dropsy, since he had known it to have a surprising success in the cure of a most stubborn anasarca, which is indeed no other than, as the word implies, the dropsy of the flesh; and this was, at that time, a large part of my complaint.

    Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon — Volume 1 Henry Fielding 1730

  • Lastly this state can be compared to a condition called anasarca, in which the whole body is swollen.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows adityagawade 2010

  • When the period of efflorescence, or standing out of the rash, is over, packs ought to be given, to extract the poison completely from the system, and to prevent any sequels, such as anasarca, &c.

    Hydriatic treatment of Scarlet Fever in its Different Forms Charles Munde

  • In old dogs, dropsy, under the title of "anasarca," is an unfrequent but occasional accompaniment of ascites.

    The Dog William Youatt 1811

  • _Ophthalmia lymphatica_ is a kind of anasarca of the tunica adnata; in this the vessels over the sclerotica, or white part of the eye, rise considerably above the cornea, which they surround, are less red than in the ophthalmia superficialis, and appear to be swelled by an accumulation of lymph rather than of blood; it is probably owing to the temporary obstruction of a branch of the lymphatic system.

    Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766

  • When air is present the sound given forth is like that of a drum, while in the first form ascites the sound is like that from a sack [the word used is the same as for a wine sack]; the third form is called anasarca, when the whole body swells. "

    Old-Time Makers of Medicine The Story of The Students And Teachers of the Sciences Related to Medicine During the Middle Ages James Joseph Walsh 1903

  • There are two kinds of dropsy, the one anasarca, which, when formed, is incurable; the other is accompanied with emphysema

    On Regimen In Acute Diseases 2007

  • _ -- The general anasarca gave the body a bulky appearance.

    An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis or Ulceration Induced by Carbonaceous Accumulation in the Lungs of Coal Miners Archibald Makellar

Comments

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  • a very open word for a condition of total body edema, describing people who have massively swollen flesh all over.

    April 13, 2007