▪ I. ulcer, n.
(ˈʌlsə(r))
Also 5–7 vlcer, 5–6 vlcere, 6 ulcere.
[ad. L. ulcer-, ulcus neut. (related to Gr. ἕλκος), whence also It. ulcera fem., ulcero masc., Sp. and Pg. ulcera fem., F. ulcère masc. († and fem.), OF. ulcere (1314).]
1. Path. An erosive solution of continuity in any external or internal surface of the body, forming an open sore attended with a secretion of pus or other morbid matter.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 215 Þe cure of vlcers þat ben olde. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 35 Þe clensyng of þe vlcer of flessh mortified by þe forseid poudre. Ibid. 89 Sanguis veneris heleþ wele..depe woundez..and holow vlcerez. 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. 2 F iv, Yf the lyppes of the vlcere appere harde and stony, they must be cutte. 1589 Nashe Almond for Parrat 10 The disease of disobedience proceeds from the swelling of pride, as madness from some vntollerable vlcer. 1615 H. Crooke Body of Man 56 Why if a bone be caued or hollowed by an vlcer..the flesh can neuer be generated ouer it? 1637 Nabbes Microcosm. v, Conscience stain'd Is like a fretting ulcer. 1694 Ray in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 201 The ulcers upon my leg..are..broken out again. c 1720 W. Gibson Farrier's Guide ii. lv. (1738) 210 A small ulcer is more easily managed than one that is large. 1772 W. Buchan Dom. Med. I. 712 Ulcers may be the consequence of wounds, bruises, or imposthumes improperly treated. 1797 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 154, I have reason to believe that ulcers of the stomach are often slow in their progress. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Oper. Surg. 270 These foreign bodies introduced by the wound finished by transforming it into an ulcer. 1877 F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 3) I. 48 When inflammation destroys the tissues on a surface, an ulcer is formed. |
| transf. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. i. 52 Thou..Powr'st in the open Vlcer of my heart, Her Eyes, her Haire [etc.]. |
b. Used in sing, as a generic term.
| 1623 Lodge Poor Mans Talent 13 For the Cancer, vlcer, and Noli me tangere. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 484 Intestin Stone and Ulcer, Colic pangs. 1749 Hartley Observ. Man I. 126 The subsequent Pain is to be referred to the Heads of Inflammation and Ulcer. 1820 Good Nosology 274 For so closely is ulcer connected with gangrene, that it can⁓not exist without it. c 1837 in A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (1842) ix. 250 Scurvy, typhoid fever, dysentery, and ulcer, which up to the period of the change had produced great havoc. 1884 Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 4) I. 83 marg., Local causes of ulcer. Ibid., Constitutional causes of ulcer. |
c. attrib. and Comb.
| 1611 Cotgr., Vlceratif,..vlcer-breeding. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvi. 336 Enlargements of the tonsils, without any ulcer-like cavities, were not unfrequently observed. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 765 The mucous membrane overhanging the ulcer cavity is œdematous. |
2. fig. Any corroding or corrupting influence; a morally diseased or unsound element; a plague-spot.
| 1592 tr. Junius on Rev. xvi. 2 It doeth signifie a spirituall ulcer. 1613–8 Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. Wks. (Grosart) IV. 211 Hee would not wrest any thing by an Imperiall power from the Kingdome (which might breed vlcers of dangerous nature). 1643 Baker Chron., Q. Eliz. 105 This was the right way to finde, whether the ulcer of his minde were throughly cured or no. 1873–4 Dixon Two Queens xxi. iii. IV. 138 His enmity to some of the Reformers..was the ulcer of his fame. |
b. Applied to persons. rare.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iv, Yon putred ulcer of my roiall bloode. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 34 This wicked vlcer that corrupts the state, Nere thinkes of death, till that it be too late. |
▪ II. ulcer, v. Now rare.
(ˈʌlsə(r))
[f. prec. In first quot. after F. ulcérer.]
a. absol. To cause an ulcer or ulcers. b. trans. To ulcerate. Also fig.
| 1590 C'tess Pembroke Antonie 284 And his [sc. Love's] sweet shafts, with whose shot none are kill'd, Which ulcer not. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. vi. 379 This by degrees abates the reverence of religion, and ulcers mens hearts with profaneness. 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. Introd. p. xxii, The cold had prodigious effects on our men in Greenland,..as blistering, and ulcering their flesh. 1829 Lytton Disowned xiv, Thought, feeling, the faculties and impulses of man, all ulcered into one great canker—Gain. |