infection Hear it!

infection Definition

in·fec·tion (in fek′s̸hən)

noun

  1. an infecting; specif.,
    1. the act of causing to become diseased
    2. the act of affecting with one's feelings or beliefs
  2. the fact or state of being infected, esp. by the presence in the body of bacteria, protozoans, viruses, or other parasites
  3. something that results from infecting or being infected; specif.,
    1. a disease resulting from infection (sense )
    2. a feeling, belief, influence, etc. transmitted from one person to another
  4. anything that infects

Etymology: ME infeccioun < OFr infection < LL infectio

infection Synonyms

infection

n.

  1. The spread of a disease

    contagiousness, contagion, communicability, epidemic, poisoning, contamination; see also contamination, pollution.

  2. Disease

    virus, plague, germs; see disease, germ 3.

Infection Hacker Definition
A description for a computer system or a program is said to be infected if a worm or virus has copied itself into some part of the system. Usually the goal of such an infection is to propagate to other systems or programs. Infection can also cause the system or program to expose some other unwanted behavior or secretly alter data.

See Also: Means of Infection; Virus; Worm.

infection Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • tract: Homeopathy can be a great help at times like this The common cold is caused by a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract.

Converse of subject

  • complicate: Acute renal failure This may occur with any serious illness or operation, particularly those complicated by severe infection.

Converse of object

  • transmit: The rise in sexually transmitted infections among young people is a major public health challenge.
  • acquire: Results In hospital 7.8 % of patients had one or more hospital acquired infections.
  • blood-bear: It is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States.
  • prevent: They all drain through very small openings into the nose to prevent infections passing into them.
  • treat: Antibiotics are usually used to treat infections caused by bacteria.
  • diagnose: The GP diagnosed a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics.

Adjective modifier

  • viral: Nine subjects with a viral infection returned for assessment.
  • bacterial: Can be acute with viral or bacterial infection accompanied by fever.
  • fungal: Any major illness, fungal infections or surgery may be major reasons.
  • urinary: How should general practitioners investigate suspected urinary tract infection?
  • respiratory: Subjects were excluded if they reported having suffered symptoms of a respiratory tract infection in the prior 8 weeks.
  • opportunistic: In early years, the commonest occurrence was the development of severe opportunistic infections with death a likely outcome.

Noun used with modifier

  • tract: How should general practitioners investigate suspected urinary tract infection?
  • chest: Long periods of time were spent in a London hospital with repeated chest infections.
  • pylorus: Predisposing factors: H. pylori infection: A gram negative spiral microaerophilic bacillus specific for human gastric mucosa.
  • ear: Reverend Dick died aged 69 of inflammation of the brain caused by an inner ear infection.
  • virus: The danger of virus infection needs to be placed in perspective.
  • yeast: Important information about reproductive health including: cervical cancer, menstruation, and yeast infections.
infection Quotes

That it is at least as difficult to staya moral infection as a physical one; that such a disease will spread with the malignityand rapidity of the Plague; that the contagion, when it has once made head, will spare no pursuit or condition, but will lay hold on people in the soundest health, and become developed inthe most unlikely constitutions; is a fact as firmlyestablished by experience as that we human creatures breathe an atmosphere.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

Ink, n. Avillainous compound†chiefly used to facilitate the infection of idiocyand promote intellectual crime.

—Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

And it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plagueisdoneastoperiwigs, fornobody will daretobuy any haire for fear of the infectionöthat it had been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague.

—Pepys, Samuel

No science is immuneto the infection of politics and the corruption of power.

—Bronowski,Jacob

What, then, was war? No mere discord of flags But an infection of the common sky That sagged ominously upon the earth Even when the season was the airiest May?

—Graves, Robert von Ranke

There were many ways of not burdening one's conscience, of shunning responsibility, looking away, keeping silent.When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust became known at the end of the war, all too many of us claimed that they had not known anything about it, orevensuspectedanything† Whoeverrefuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection† Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.

—Weizsa«  cker, Richard Freiherr, Baron von