Definition of "empyema" [em•py•e•ma]

• The presence of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity. (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.

• "Three different methods for accurately measuring breast density and associated complications, including a lung infection called empyema, increased in older children, the study found."
• "However, pneumonia and associated complications, including a lung infection called empyema, increased in older children, the study found."
• "But the scientists also found a 70 percent increase in the rate of a pneumonia complication called empyema, a serious and sometimes life-threatening infection in a cavity between the lung and chest wall."