Meaning & use
lesion
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Meanings
nouncountablemedical
An area of skin or body tissue that has been damaged or has changed abnormally because of injury or disease.
Grammar: Often plural when there are several: skin lesions.
Patterns
- a lesion on something
- a lesion in something
The doctor noticed a small lesion on her arm.
The scan showed a lesion in the left lung.
Some skin lesions heal without treatment.
nouncountablemedicalspecialist
Damage to part of the brain or nervous system, often studied to learn what that region does.
Grammar: Used in neurology: a brain lesion, a lesion of the spinal cord.
Patterns
- a lesion of something
A lesion in this area of the brain can affect speech.
Researchers studied patients with a lesion in the visual cortex.
The MRI revealed a lesion on the spinal cord.
Word forms
| plural | lesions |
|---|
Common combinations
- skin lesion
- She asked a dermatologist to check the skin lesion.
- brain lesion
- A brain lesion was found during the scan.
- benign lesion
- The biopsy showed the lesion was benign.
- malignant lesion
- A malignant lesion needs prompt treatment.
- remove a lesion
- The surgeon removed the lesion in a short procedure.
- suspicious lesion
- A suspicious lesion should always be examined by a doctor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wound
- A wound is damage caused by injury such as a cut, while lesion also covers changes caused by disease.
- sore
- Sore is an everyday word for a painful or raw spot, while lesion is the more neutral, clinical term.
- abnormality
- Abnormality is broader and can mean any unusual feature, while lesion refers to damaged tissue.
- growth
- A growth is a lump that has formed, whereas a lesion can also be flat or an area of damage.
Word family
- lesional adjective
- relating to a lesion
- lesioned adjective
- having had a lesion made, especially in research on animals
Commonly confused: lesion or legion? lesion or lesson?
lesion vs legion
A legion is a large military unit or great number of people, and is unrelated to damaged tissue despite the similar spelling.
lesion vs lesson
A lesson is a period of teaching; lesion has a different vowel sound and means damaged tissue.
Practice
The doctor ordered a biopsy of the dark ____ on his back to see if it was harmful.
Choose one answer.
A lesion is an area of abnormal skin or tissue. Region is a real word for an area, which makes it tempting, but it would not be used for a skin abnormality in a medical context.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lesion”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.