whitlow

/'witlou/

Thân thiện

A person is soaking their finger to treat a painful whitlow.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A purulent infection at the end of a finger or toe in the area surrounding the nail: A whitlow is a painful, pus-filled abscess or infection, typically bacterial, affecting the soft tissue (pulp) around the fingernail or toenail. It is also known medically as a felon or paronychia.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The chef had to take time off work because of a painful whitlow on his thumb.
  • A whitlow can be caused by bacteria entering through a small cut or hangnail.
  • She soaked her finger in warm water to help drain the whitlow.

Advanced Usage

• "Herpetic whitlow": A specific type of whitlow caused by the herpes simplex virus, often affecting healthcare workers or children.
  • Herpetic whitlow is treated with antiviral medication, not by incision and drainage.

Variants and Related Words

• Felon (n): A synonym for a deep, painful abscess in the pulp of a fingertip.
• Paronychia (n): The medical term for an infection of the skin fold around a nail, which can be acute (like a typical whitlow) or chronic.

Synonyms

• Felon: A deep tissue infection of the fingertip pulp.
• Nail bed infection: A descriptive term for an infection located under or around the nail.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

(This word is a noun and does not have associated phrasal verbs.)

Related Idioms

(This word is a specific medical term and is not commonly used in idioms.)

Học thuật

Noun

1. a purulent infection at the end of a finger or toe in the area surrounding the nail

Từ đồng nghĩa

• felon