infection

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act or process of infecting.
2. (countable, uncountable)An uncontrolled growth of harmful microorganisms in a host.

   “An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A disease caused by such presence of a pathogen.

   “As the previously used chemotherapeutic agents have only proved themselves to be spirochetostatic and not spirochetocidal, the patient is liable to a delayed infection which may not become manifest for years.”

   “And researchers at the National Institutes of Health report finding candidalike fungus infections in the blood of AIDS victims.”

   “It has been reported that periparturient cows undergo a period of immunosuppression of various immunological parameters associated with a high susceptibility to uterine and mammary infections […]”

4. (countable, uncountable)A visible sign of such a disease, such as the suppuration of a wound.