Definitions

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

  • noun Greek Mythology The rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods.
  • noun A watery, acrid discharge from a wound or ulcer.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Greek and Roman mythology, an ethereal fluid believed to supply the place of blood in the veins of the gods.
  • noun A thin, watery humor, like serum or whey; a thin, watery, acrid discharge from an ulcer, a wound, etc.

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

  • noun (Class. Myth.) An ethereal fluid that supplied the place of blood in the veins of the gods.
  • noun A thin, acrid, watery discharge from an ulcer, wound, etc.

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

  • noun the liquid that in Greek mythology was said to flow in place of blood in the veins of the gods
  • noun poetic any bloodlike fluid
  • noun a watery, fetid discharge from a sore
  • noun yellow bile

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

  • noun a fluid product of inflammation
  • noun (Greek mythology) the rarified fluid said to flow in the veins of the Gods

Etymologies

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

[Middle English icor, from Late Latin īchōr, from Greek īkhōr.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Mid-17th century, from Ancient Greek ἰχώρ.

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Examples

  • Yellow or livid vesicles appear, producing a corrosive ichor, which is sometimes attended with a degree of fever.

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

  • In his hands, he wielded an iron poker like a baseball bat; a viscous, black liquid-Timmy had never heard the term "ichor" before-now coated the metal shaft.

    365 tomorrows 2008

  • Caithe cartwheeled away, careful not to let the ichor touch her.

    GuildWars Edge of Destiny J. Robert King 2011

  • Black ichor, zombie nastiness, flowed out from the wounds.

    Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011

  • He reached beneath his tattered greatcoat and drew forth a cutlass that dripped with black ichor.

    GuildWars Edge of Destiny J. Robert King 2011

  • A small demon trilled its freedom to the universe as the fly-sized being rose from the mirror, but I caught it in my fist and crushed it until it popped, a tiny jelly-bean of ichor.

    Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011

  • He reached beneath his tattered greatcoat and drew forth a cutlass that dripped with black ichor.

    GuildWars Edge of Destiny J. Robert King 2011

  • A small demon trilled its freedom to the universe as the fly-sized being rose from the mirror, but I caught it in my fist and crushed it until it popped, a tiny jelly-bean of ichor.

    Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011

  • Caithe cartwheeled away, careful not to let the ichor touch her.

    GuildWars Edge of Destiny J. Robert King 2011

  • Black ichor, zombie nastiness, flowed out from the wounds.

    Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011

Comments

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  • 4077 MASH was a unit within the purview of I Corps

    June 22, 2008

  • what giant spiders secrete. can be sold for copper.

    October 30, 2009

  • Copper web.

    October 30, 2009

  • likeflannel, you made me smile. :)

    October 30, 2009

  • This word was used a lot in "The Dragonriders Of Pern" series of books.

    June 15, 2012

  • Might this be the source for the word "icky", with a corrupted spelling?

    July 5, 2015

  • My guess is that ichor is an unlikely source for icky. The Wordnik entry for icky borrows a suggestion of an origin in jazz lingo. I think it sounds like generic baby-talk. Compare yucky and gooey.

    July 5, 2015