Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A pathological condition of the lungs marked by an abnormal increase in the size of the air spaces, resulting in labored breathing and an increased susceptibility to infection. It can be caused by irreversible expansion of the alveoli or by the destruction of alveolar walls.
  • noun An abnormal distension of body tissues caused by retention of air.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, distention with air or other gases.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) A swelling produced by gas or air diffused in the cellular tissue.
  • noun (Med.) a common disease of the lungs in which the air cells are distended and their partition walls ruptured by an abnormal pressure of the air contained in them.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology An abnormal accumulation of air in tissues, most commonly the lungs.
  • noun medicine Pulmonary emphysema, a chronic lung disease.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an abnormal condition of the lungs marked by decreased respiratory function; associated with smoking or chronic bronchitis or old age

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek emphūsēma, inflation, from emphūsān, to blow in : en-, in; see en– + phūsān, to blow (from phūsa, bellows, bladder).]

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Examples

  • Most extreme of the forms of physiological dysfunction in emphysema are those rather uncommon cases of severe alveolar hypoventilation sometimes called the Ayerza syndrome, in which all of the above trends are manifested to maximum degree, and yet often with only mild anatomical changes in the lungs42.

    Dickinson W. Richards - Nobel Lecture 1964

  • When a consumer, for example, begins smoking cigarettes knowing that she has a particular medical condition, such as emphysema, that is exacerbated by smoking, the Correia defense may be appropriately invoked.

    Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Bars Big Tobacco Defense: Can't Blame the Smoker 2006

  • Nancy told me she had a disease called emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011

  • Nancy told me she had a disease called emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011

  • Nancy told me she had a disease called emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011

  • Nancy told me she had a disease called emphysema, a lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe.

    Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery Jack Canfield 2011

  • After sixty-odd years of coffin nails, he does have emphysema, which is why the pneumonia was dangerous, but why the cigarettes haven't killed him by now is purely genetic.

    Archive 2009-04-01 Steve Perry 2009

  • He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as emphysema.

    Without Pity Ann Rule 2003

  • He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as emphysema.

    Without Pity Ann Rule 2003

  • Investigators examined the relationship between vitamin E supplementation and self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma or chronic lung disease, defined as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and bronchiectasis.

    MedPageToday.com - medical news plus CME for physicians 2010

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