Em`phy*se"ma (?), n. [NL., from Gr. inflation, fr. to inflate; in + to blow: cf. F. emphyseme.] Med.

A swelling produced by gas or air diffused in the cellular tissue.

Emphysema of the lungs, Pulmonary emphysema Med., a common disease of the lungs in which the air cells are distended and their partition walls ruptured by an abnormal pressure of the air contained in them.

 

© Webster 1913.