English▸ noun a swollen area within body tissue, containing an accumulation of pus:
once the abscesses burst, they usually discharge for several days before gradually healing up
figurative one of his priorities as prime minister was to lance the abscess of corruption.
– ORIGIN mid 16th century : from Latin abscessus ‘a going away’, from the verb abscedere, from ab- ‘away from’ + cedere ‘go’, referring to the elimination of infected matter via the pus.