Definition of "osteolysis" [‖Os•te•ol•y•sis]

• Dissolution or degeneration of bone tissue through disease. (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.

• ""The body mounts a cellular reaction to try to deal with the wear debris, a reaction that unfortunately often leads to unwanted destruction of bone (called osteolysis) around the implant," he wrote in the report."
• "The drug halted the infection within one day of treatment, preventing the development of osteolysis, bone breakdown associated with joint-replacement failure."
• "Training and research focus on (a) an evolutionary perspective in the analysis of morphology, including the influences of function, structure, and phylogenetic history, and (b) the structural adaptations of bone as load-bearing tissue, including the physiologic mechanisms of osteogenesis and osteolysis."