See Also: Herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine)(health)
ruby(dictionary)
ruby(encyclopedia)
Ruby(medicine)
ruby(dictionary)
ruby spots(medicine)
Ruby, Jack(dictionary)
rose-a-ruby(dictionary)
balas ruby(medicine)
Ruby of Siam(tourism)

Cellulitis (medicine) and ruby (iou)


Cellulitis (medicine)


cellulitis
<dermatology> An acute, diffuse, spreading, oedematous, suppurative inflammation of the deep subcutaneous tissues and sometimes muscle, which may be associated with abscess formation.

It is usually caused by infection of an operative or traumatic wound, burn or Other cutaneous lesion by various bacteria, but group A streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common aetiological agents.

Cellulitis may also occur in immunocompromised hosts or it may follow erysipelas. It tends to spread to tissue spaces and cleavage planes owing to bacterial elaboration of large amounts of hyaluronidases that, break down polysaccharide ground substance, fibrinolysins that digest fibrin barriers and lecithinases that destroy cell membranes.

Clinical manifestations include an area of oedema, warmth and tenderness with indistinct margins.

Compare: erysipelas.


ruby (iou)



ruby noun, adjective, & verb. ['ru:bi] ME.
[Old French rubi (mod. rubis) from medieval Latin rubinus use as noun of adjective from base of Latin rubeus, ruber red.]
A. noun.
A rare and valuable precious stone varying from deep crimson or purple to pale rose-red, now recognized as a variety of corundum. Also (now usu. with specifying word), a red spinel (formerly confused with this). ME.
BALAS-ruby. spinel ruby: see SPINEL 1.
A person (esp. a woman) of great worth or Beauty. ME-L16.
a. Alchemy. The red form of the philosopher's stone. L15-E17.
b. Chemistry. A red compound of an element or elements. Usu. foll. by of. Long obsolete exc. Hist. L17.
a. A red facial spot or pimple. M16.
b. In pl. The lips. Chiefly poet. L16.
The colour of a ruby; a glowing purplish red; Heraldry (long obsolete exc. Hist.) the tincture gules in the fanciful blazon of arms of peers. L16.
a. Red Wine. Chiefly poet. L17.
b. Blood. slang. M19.
A size of type (equal to 5 1 / 2 points) intermediate between nonpareil and pearl. L18.
ellipt. Ruby glass; ruby port. M19.
b. adjective.
Of the colour of a ruby, of a glowing purplish red; Heraldry (long obsolete exc. Hist.) of the tincture gules in the fanciful blazon of arms of peers. L15.
Lady One lady had a ruby velvet, trimmed with costly lace.
Of or pertaining to a ruby or rubies; set or provided with a ruby or rubies. E16.
ruby mine, ruby ring, ruby stone, etc.
Special collocations & comb. (of noun & adjective): ruby anniversary = ruby wedding below. ruby-back, ruby-backed adjectives designating fine Chinese porcelain backed with pink or crimson enamel. ruby blende a reddish-brown transparent variety of sphalerite. ruby copper cuprous oxide. ruby-dazzler Austral. & NZ slang a thing of exceptional quality. ruby glass glass coloured by various metallic oxides. ruby port a deep red port, esp. one matured in wood for only a few years and then fined. ruby-red (of) the colour of a ruby, (of) a glowing purplish red. ruby silver (a) proustite; (b) pyrargyrite. ruby spinel = SPINEL 1. ruby-tail (more fully ruby-tail fly, ruby-tail wasp) = ruby-tailed fly below. ruby-tailed adjective having a red tail; ruby-tailed fly, ruby-tailed wasp, any of various cuckoo wasps which have part of the abdomen a metallic red colour; esp. any European species of the genus Chrysis. rubythroat (a) (in full Siberian rubythroat) a small bird, Luscinia calliope, related to the European robin, which breeds in Siberia, and the male of which has a red throat; (b) = ruby-throated hummingbird below. ruby-throated adjective (of a bird) having a red throat; ruby-throated hummingbird, a hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, that has a metallic green back and is the commonest hummingbird in much of N. America; ruby-throated warbler = rubythroat (a) above. ruby wedding the fortieth (or forty-fifth) anniversary of a wedding. ruby zinc (a) = ruby blende above; (b) zincite.
C. verb trans. Dye or tinge with a ruby colour. Chiefly as rubied ppl adjective. poet. E18.