Definition:

1. An abscess is a localized collection of pus in any part of the body that is surrounded by swelling (inflammation).
   ADAM Health Illustrated Encyclopedia
2. An abscess is a place of accumulation of the creamy white, yellow, or greenish fluid, known as pus, surrounded by reddened tissue. It is the result of the body's inflammatory response to a foreign body or a bacterial, viral, parasitic, or fungal infection. An abscess usually dries out and resolves when it is drained of pus. The most common parts of the body affected by abscesses are the face, armpits, arms and legs, rectum, sebaceous glands (oil glands), and the breast during lactation.
   Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
3. An abscess is an enclosed collection of liquefied tissue, known as pus, somewhere in the body. It is the result of the body's defensive reaction to foreign material.
   Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
4. In abscess is an enclosed collection of liquefied tissue, known as pus, somewhere in the body. It is the result of the body's defensive reaction to foreign material.
   Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
5. Avoid the misspellings abcess and absess. Avoid the mispronunciation ab′sĕ-sēz of the plural of this word.1A circumscribed collection of purulent exudate frequently associated with swelling and other signs of inflammation.2A cavity formed by liquefactive necrosis within solid tissue.L. abscessus, a going away
   Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 28th Edition. 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Pronunciation