Meaning & use
gangrene
Last updated
The death and decay of body tissue, usually caused by a loss of blood supply, infection, or injury.
See it in a sentence
Untreated gangrene in his foot eventually required amputation.
Doctors treated the wound aggressively to prevent gangrene from setting in.
A note on using this word
Gangrene can also be used as a verb ('the wound gangrened') and figuratively to describe something that is decaying or corrupting a system from within.
Words with a similar meaning
necrosis
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
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