Definition

Noun: 1. A severe skin infection: A painful, pus-filled abscess in the skin, larger than a single boil, that involves a group of connected hair follicles. It typically has multiple openings on the skin's surface. 2. A deep-red gemstone: A polished, unfaceted (cabochon-cut) garnet of a deep red color.

Examples

Noun: * (Medical) The doctor diagnosed the painful, swollen cluster on his neck as a carbuncle. * (Gemstone) The antique brooch was set with a large, dark carbuncle.

Advanced Usage

• Medical Context: The term is primarily used in medical and dermatological contexts to describe a specific type of severe bacterial skin infection, often caused by .
• Literary/Archaic Usage: Historically, "carbuncle" was used more broadly to describe any red, inflamed sore or tumor. It can also be used metaphorically in literature to describe something seen as a blemish or a source of trouble.

Variants and Related Words

• Carbuncular (adj): Relating to or resembling a carbuncle.
  • The patient presented with a carbuncular lesion.

Synonyms

• (For the infection): Abscess, boil (though a carbuncle is specifically a cluster of boils), furuncle (a single boil).
• (For the gemstone): Garnet, cabochon garnet.

Related Phrases

• Carbuncle of the kidney: An archaic medical term for a severe, localized kidney infection or abscess.
  • (Historical) The 19th-century text described a case of carbuncle of the kidney.

Related Idioms

• (None commonly associated with the modern definitions of "carbuncle." Historically, it could be used in insults or descriptions, e.g., "a carbuncle on the face of the earth," meaning an ugly or blighted spot.)

Noun

1. an infection larger than a boil and with several openings for discharge of pus
2. deep-red cabochon garnet cut without facets