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- Dictionarywound/wuːnd/
noun
- 1. an injury to living tissue caused by a cut, blow, or other impact, typically one in which the skin is cut or broken: "a knife wound" Similar
verb
- 1. inflict a wound on: "the sergeant was seriously wounded" Similar Opposite
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The meaning of WOUND is an injury to the body (as from violence, accident, or surgery) that typically involves laceration or breaking of a membrane (such as the skin) and usually damage to underlying tissues.
WOUND definition: 1. a damaged area of the body, such as a cut or hole in the skin or flesh made by a weapon: 2. a…. Learn more.
A wound is a break in the skin or an organ or part caused by violence or a surgical incision. It can also mean an injury to plant tissue or a hurt to feelings or reputation. See more meanings, synonyms, and examples of wound in different contexts.
- Overview
- Closed wounds
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wound, a break in the continuity of any bodily tissue due to violence, where violence is understood to encompass any action of external agency, including, for example, surgery. Within this general definition many subdivisions are possible, taking into account and grouping together the various forms of violence or tissue damage.
The most important distinction is between open and closed wounds. Open wounds are those in which the protective body surface (the skin or mucous membranes) has been broken, permitting the entry of foreign material into the tissues. In closed wounds, by contrast, the damaged tissues are not exposed to the exterior, and the process of repair can take place without the interference that contamination brings, in greater or lesser degree. Further divisions may be made on the basis of the mode of production of the wound.
The degree of injury sustained from a direct blow depends upon the force of the blow and its direction. Obviously the degree of damage increases with increasing force. The effects of direction are equally important, although not so readily appreciated. For example, a hammerblow to the side of the head may severely bruise the scalp or, delivered with equal force but directed in a slightly different way, may cause extensive damage to the base of the skull. Anatomic and physiologic factors may also affect the degree of injury. Thus, a fall on an outstretched hand may have extremely different effects on a child, a young adult, and an elderly person.
A relatively slight blow may damage the skin and underlying soft tissues, as shown by bruising, or contusion, which results from the infiltration of blood into the tissues from ruptured small vessels and by swelling caused by the passage of fluid through the walls of damaged capillaries. As a rule, the hemorrhage ceases abruptly, the blood and fluid are absorbed within a few days, and the part is restored to normal. When larger vessels are injured, much more blood escapes, and it collects in the tissues and forms a mass called a hematoma.
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A direct, forceful blow may damage any of the underlying tissues; blood vessels, nerves, muscles, bones, joints, or the internal organs may be affected. Damage to the deeper tissues may result from the direct impact of the blow upon a tissue, as in the fracturing of a skull by a hammer or, more commonly, from the transmission of the force of impact through the body to a relatively weak point. Thus, a fall on an outstretched hand may injure the flesh and bones of the hand itself, but a common result is a break at some other site in the arm through which the force is transmitted—at the scaphoid bone in the wrist, at the radius in the forearm just above the wrist, at the elbow, or at the shoulder—the breaking point being determined by the direction of force and the anatomy of the individual.
Other common forms of indirect injury result from twisting, as occurs when a person’s foot becomes caught and he or she twists upon it, suffering, if the force is great enough, a sprained or broken ankle or a broken leg or hip; from bending; or from deceleration, a form of injury frequently encountered in automobile and aircraft accidents, where one part of the body is fixed while another is relatively mobile, giving rise, in abrupt stops, to a displacement of the mobile parts, commonly called whiplash.
A wound is a break in the continuity of any bodily tissue due to violence, such as surgery or trauma. Learn about the different types of wounds, their causes, effects, and complications, and how the body heals them.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Learn the different meanings and uses of the word wound as a noun and a verb. Find out how to distinguish between a wound as an injury, a feeling, or a past tense of wind.
A wound is a serious injury, especially a deep cut through the skin. But things like pride and feelings can also get wounded.
There are 12 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun wound, three of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. wound has developed meanings and uses in subjects including. medicine (Old English) pathology (Middle English) heraldry (late 1500s) plant pathology (late 1500s) surgery ...
