Okuzeka
Medicine vocabulary · Symptoms and Signs

Swelling

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈswelɪŋ/nounCommon term

In medicine, swelling means: An increase in the size of a body part, usually caused by fluid, inflammation or injury, such as swollen ankles or a swollen joint.

In Turkish: şişlik, ödem

How it is used

Patients say 'swelling' or 'swollen'; doctors often say edema for fluid swelling and record whether it is pitting. Doctors ask where it is, when it started and whether it is painful.

Example sentences

  1. Have you noticed any swelling in your ankles at the end of the day?

  2. There's swelling and redness around the knee, and it's hot to touch.

Common collocations

  • ankle swelling
  • swelling of the leg
  • reduce the swelling
  • facial swelling
  • heart failureA long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump blood around the body as well as it should, often causing breathlessness, tiredness and swollen ankles.
  • tendernessPain or discomfort that appears when a doctor presses on a part of the body during an examination.
  • -itisA word ending added to the name of a body part to mean inflammation of that part, as in tonsillitis, appendicitis or arthritis.
  • allergyA harmful reaction of the immune system to something that is normally harmless, such as a medicine, a food or pollen.
  • signEvidence of disease that a doctor can see, feel, hear or measure, such as a rash, a heart murmur or a high temperature, rather than something the patient reports.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Symptoms and Signs

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level:

This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.