Definitions

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

  • noun The presence of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, the presence of pus in a pleural cavity; pyothorax. The word was formerly used for other purulent accumulations.

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

  • noun (Med.) A collection of blood, pus, or other fluid, in some cavity of the body, especially that of the pleura.

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

  • noun medicine A collection of pus within a naturally existing anatomical cavity (as opposed to an abscess, which occurs in a newly formed cavity).

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

  • noun a collection of pus in a body cavity (especially in the lung cavity)

Etymologies

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

[Medieval Latin empyēma, from Greek empuēma, from empuein, to suppurate; see pū̆- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἐμπύημα (empuēma)

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Examples

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • However, pneumonia and associated complications, including a lung infection called empyema, increased in older children, the study found.

    Infection Control Today Site Wide Content Feed 2010

  • Three different methods for accurately measuring breast density and associated complications, including a lung infection called empyema, increased in older children, the study found.

    THE MEDICAL NEWS 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall.

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

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