turgescence

Noun

turgescence (countable and uncountable, plural turgescences)

1. The act of swelling, or state of being swollen or turgescent.
   • the instant turgescence is not to be taken off1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC
   • If the predisposition to the disease has arisen from a plethoric state of the system, or from a turgescence in the vessels of the head, this is to be obviated by bleeding, both generally and topically, but more particularly the latter; an abstemious diet and proper exercise; and by a seton in the...1842, Gibbons Merle, John Reitch, The Domestic Dictionary and Housekeeper’s Manual: Comprising Everything Related to Cookery, Diet, Economy and Medicine. By Gibbons Merle. The Medical Portion of the...

   Synonyms:

   tumescence, tumidity, turgidity, turgor, intumescence, inturgescence, swellage, bloatedness, bloating, distension

2. Empty magnificence or pompousness; inflation; bombast; turgidity.
   • A marked tendency to affectation, to turgescence.1813, Monthly Review