Definition of Infection

1. Noun. The pathological state resulting from the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms.


2. Noun. (phonetics) the alteration of a speech sound under the influence of a neighboring sound.
Category relationships: Phonetics
Generic synonyms: Linguistic Process

3. Noun. (medicine) the invasion of the body by pathogenic microorganisms and their multiplication which can lead to tissue damage and disease.
Category relationships: Medical Specialty, Medicine
Generic synonyms: Pathologic Process, Pathological Process
Specialized synonyms: Zymosis
Derivative terms: Infect, Infectious

4. Noun. An incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted.
Exact synonyms: Contagion, Transmission
Generic synonyms: Incident
Derivative terms: Contagious, Infect, Transmit

5. Noun. The communication of an attitude or emotional state among a number of people. "The infection of his enthusiasm for poetry"
Exact synonyms: Contagion
Generic synonyms: Communication
Derivative terms: Contagious, Infect, Infectious

6. Noun. Moral corruption or contamination. "Ambitious men are led astray by an infection that is almost unavoidable"
Generic synonyms: Corruption, Corruptness

7. Noun. (international law) illegality that taints or contaminates a ship or cargo rendering it liable to seizure.
Generic synonyms: Illegality
Category relationships: Jurisprudence, Law

Definition of Infection

1. n. The act or process of infecting.

Definition of Infection

1. Noun. (pathology) The act or process of infecting. ¹

2. Noun. An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Infection

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Infection

1. 1. Invasion and multiplication of microorganisms in body tissues, which may be clinically unapparent or result in local cellular injury due to competitive metabolism, toxins, intracellular replication or antigen antibody response. The infection may remain localised, subclinical and temporary if the bodys defensive mechanisms are effective. A local infection may persist and spread by extension to become an acute, subacute or chronic clinical infection or disease state. A local infection may also become systemic when the microorganisms gain access to the lymphatic or vascular system. 2. An infectious disease. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Infection

infect
infectability
infectable
infectant
infected
infected abortion
infectee
infectees
infecter
infecters
infectest
infecteth
infectibility
infectible
infecting
infection (current term)
infection-exhaustion psychosis
infection calculus
infection control
infection control nurse
infection control practitioners
infection immunity
infection thread
infections
infectiosity
infectious
infectious agent
infectious anaemia
infectious arteritis virus of horses
infectious avian bronchitis

Literary usage of Infection

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1911)
"Negative Case I. History of infection 3^ years ago 0 1 Case 11. ... History of infection 6 years ago 1 0 Case IV. History of infection 2 years ago 0 1 Case ..."

2. The Medical Clinics of North America by Michael C. Fiore, Stephen S. Entman, Charles B. Rush (1921)
"Thorough removal of foci of infection is followed by improvement in general health and frequently by improvement or cure of distant local and systemic ..."

3. The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of by William Osler (1901)
"The immediate and remote effects of the gonococcus may be considered under— I. The primary infection. II. The spread in the genito-urinary organs by direct ..."

4. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics by The American College of Surgeons, Franklin H. Martin Memorial Foundation (1921)
"Cabot criticizes the theory that cystitis may be a primary infection and the assumption that infection of the kidney or the pelvis is an infection which has ..."

5. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease by American Neurological Association, Philadelphia Neurological Society, Chicago Neurological Society, New York Neurological Association, Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (1916)
"It is with one of these, infection via the lymphatic system of peripheral nerves, ... Where infection occurs from without it will be shown that diffusion of ..."

6. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1922)
"SPOROZOAN infection To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I have just detected, in an American recently arrived in the Philippine Islands from the United States, ..."

7. The Harvey Lectures by Harvey Society of New York, New York Academy of Medicine (1915)
"A great change has taken place within recent years in the attitude of scientific men towards the theory of aerial infection. ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Infection on Dictionary.com!Search for Infection on Thesaurus.com!Search for Infection on Google!Search for Infection on Wikipedia!