Impaction

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impaction \Im*pac"tion\, n. [L. impactio a striking : cf. F.
     impaction.]
     1. (Surg.) The driving of one fragment of bone into another
        so that the fragments are not movable upon each other; as,
        impaction of the skull or of the hip.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. An immovable packing; (Med.), a lodgment of something in a
        strait or passage of the body; as, impaction of the fetal
        head in the strait of the pelvis; impaction of food or
        feces in the intestines of man or beast.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impaction
       n 1: the condition of being pressed closely together and firmly
            fixed
       2: a disorder in which feces are impacted in the lower colon
       3: a disorder in which a tooth is so crowded in its socket that
          it cannot erupt normally [syn: {impacted tooth}]
       4: a sharp collision produced by striking or dashing against
          something [syn: {impingement}]