acute glossitis
- noun
- /əˈkjut ˈɡlɑːsɪtɪs/
- Specialized
- The patient was diagnosed with acute glossitis after experiencing severe tongue pain and swelling.
Examples
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The symptoms of acute glossitis include swelling and pain.
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Treatment for acute glossitis often focuses on relieving pain and addressing the underlying cause.
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Infections and burns are common causes of acute glossitis.
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She was diagnosed with acute glossitis last week.
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The patient was diagnosed with acute glossitis after experiencing severe tongue pain and swelling.
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Treatment for acute glossitis often focuses on relieving pain and addressing the underlying cause.
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Infections and burns are common causes of acute glossitis.
Synonyms
A red, swollen, painful tongue caused by infection or irritation
How Sudden
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward adjective + medical noun combination: 'acute' (sudden, severe) modifies 'glossitis' (inflammation/swelling of the tongue), yielding a meaning of sudden-onset tongue inflammation. This ADJ+NOUN medical compositional pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituents can derive the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Acute glossitis combines acute, meaning 'sudden' or 'sharp', and glossitis, a word for a sore, swollen tongue. It paints a clear picture of a tongue that suddenly becomes red, swollen and painful, so the phrase means 'sudden painful swelling of the tongue'.