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Glite Dictionary
🚗 Overcrowding 🤧 Blocked nose
congestion

congestion

8 4.8
A build-up of fluid or blood that makes a body part feel blocked
  • noun
  • /kənˈdʒɛs.tʃən/
  • Specialized
: congestión
  • She took medicine to relieve the congestion in her sinuses after the allergy attack.
  • nasal congestion
  • venous congestion
  • facial congestion

It helps with severe congestion and coughs.

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Examples

  • Complaints include rhinitis, nasal congestion, mouth dryness, and sore throat.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Decongestants are effective at breaking up congestion and allowing it to drain through the nasal passageways.

    Blog text (22)

  • I've just got such congestion across my face.

  • It's not just a simple congestion, there are rales in the lungs.

    The Heiress (1949)

  • But he must use the oxygen more, and he has to call us at the onset of congestion.

    Paranoia (2013)

  • That's what life with sinus congestion feels like.

    Tom Bilyeu

  • It helps with severe congestion and coughs.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • Namely, he has a low grade fever, nasal congestion and cough, according to two people close to Trump.

  • Postoperatively, the patient did well, and his nasal congestion was minimal.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Nasal congestion and mask intolerance are the most common complaints that reduce compliance with CPAP.

    Academic text (2006)

Synonyms

swelling
vscongestion
102 3.7

A raised, often painful area on the body after injury or infection

is specific to fluid accumulation causing pressure rather than any raised area
edema
vscongestion
  • Specialized
30 8.0

Swelling that happens when too much fluid builds up in parts of the body, for example the legs or face

includes excess fluid too but can involve thicker fluids or blood
puffiness
vscongestion
3 3.4

A swelling of part of the body, often around the eyes or ankles, caused by extra fluid

indicates a more severe excess fluid buildup causing pressure or marked swelling
engorgement
vscongestion
  • Specialized
1 9.1

A body part that is filled with blood or fluid and looks swollen

is broader, covering excess fluid buildup not only blood
pulmonary congestion
vscongestion
  • Specialized
1 6.0

Fluid or blood that builds up in the lungs and makes breathing hard

is the general term for excess fluid anywhere, not only lungs
intumescency
vscongestion
  • Specialized
9.9

A body part that swells because blood or other liquid collects there

focuses on excess fluid causing pressure rather than general enlargement
tumefaction
vscongestion
  • Specialized
9.9

A swelling of a part of the body that has extra fluid

refers to the condition of excess fluid itself rather than the swelling process
swellness
vscongestion
8.8

A part of the body that is larger than normal

describes the excess fluid accumulation itself not just the state of enlargement

Antonyms

drainage
42 3.5

Removing liquid so it flows away from a place or object

decongestion
1 5.0

Action that reduces crowding on roads or in the nose

Compounds

pulmonary congestion
  • Specialized
1 6.0

Fluid or blood that builds up in the lungs and makes breathing hard

How Filled

engorgement
  • Specialized
1 9.1
congestion
  • Specialized
8 4.8
distension
  • UK
1 8.9

Surface Forms

congestion singular
congestions plural

Morphology

congestion = congest (transparent) = congest + ion

The medical sense is a nominalization of 'congest' referring to accumulation of fluid or blood; the relation to 'overcrowding/accumulation' is direct.

Etymology

Congestion comes from Latin parts con- 'together' and gerere 'to carry', so it originally meant 'piled up' or 'brought together'. In medicine congestion describes blood or fluid that has built up in a part of the body, making it feel full, swollen, or blocked.