Definitions

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

  • noun A small inflamed elevation of the skin that is filled with pus; a pimple.
  • noun A small swelling similar to a blister or pimple.
  • noun Something likened to an inflamed, pus-filled lesion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of the swellings produced in the leaves and stems of plants by Cystopus, Synchytrium, and other fungi.
  • noun In medicine, a small inflammatory tumor containing pus; a small pimple containing pus.
  • noun In botany, a slight elevation like a pimple or little blister.
  • noun In zoology: A small rounded elevation of surface, like a blister; a papule or pimple.
  • noun A spot of color larger than a dot, and suggestive of a blister.

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

  • noun (Med.) A vesicle or an elevation of the cuticle with an inflamed base, containing pus.
  • noun See under Malignant.

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

  • noun A small accumulation of pus in the epidermis or dermis.
  • noun A pimple filled with pus

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

  • noun a small inflamed elevation of skin containing pus; a blister filled with pus

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pūstula, blister.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin pustula ("inflamed sore, blister").

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Examples

Comments

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  • he wanted to get his boil lanced before christmas, but the dr. insisted that he wait pustule...

    November 1, 2007

  • *groan*

    November 1, 2007

  • See also pus jewel

    December 5, 2008

  • A great pustule of dread burst silently between my ears.

    - Chris Morris, Blue Jam, Series II, Episode II

    June 16, 2009