Definition of "ecchymosis" [ec•chy•mo•sis]

• The passage of blood from ruptured blood vessels into subcutaneous tissue, marked by a purple discoloration of the skin. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""Yes, I suppose the blood has spread; there is what doctors call ecchymosis; give me some clean linen, pour into a glass equal parts of good olive oil and wine dregs, and wash that stain for me.""
• "Persons who, in jumping from a height, have pitched on the heel, so as to occasion diastasis (separation) of the bones, ecchymosis of the veins, and contusion of the nerves, - when these symptoms are very violent, there is danger that the parts may sphacelate, and give trouble to the patient during the remainder of his life; for these bones are so constructed as to slip past one another, and the nerves communicate together."
• "When persons jumping from a height pitch on the heel, so as to occasion separation (diastasis) of the bones, ecchymosis of the veins, and contusion of the nerves; when these symptoms are very violent there is danger of sphacelus, and that the case may give trouble during life, for the bones are so constructed as to slip from one another, and the nerves communicate together."