What does engorgement mean?
Engorgement is the state of being swollen because a tissue, organ, or body part has become filled — often excessively so — with blood, fluid, or another substance. It derives from the verb engorge, meaning to swallow greedily or fill to bursting, and retains that vivid sense of surfeit even in clinical use. In medicine it most often describes physiological or pathological swelling: the engorgement of breasts when milk comes in after childbirth, the venous engorgement of tissues under pressure, or the engorgement of nasal passages during congestion. In zoology it describes a tick or other blood-feeder swollen with its meal. Because it implies distension beyond normal capacity, the word connotes discomfort or excess rather than mere enlargement. It belongs primarily to formal medical writing and appears rarely in casual conversation, where speakers would simply say swelling or bloating.
nounThe condition of being swollen with fluid, blood, or another substance; the act or process of engorging or becoming engorged.
- Swelling of a body part caused by an accumulation of fluid or blood (medical sense, e.g. breast engorgement in lactation, venous engorgement).
- The condition of an animal, especially a tick or leech, having gorged itself on food or blood and become swollen.
- The act of swallowing or filling to excess; overfilling.
"The physician explained that breast engorgement is common in the first days of nursing."
"Cold compresses can help relieve engorgement between feedings."
"After feeding for hours in the undergrowth, the tick dropped off, its body taut with engorgement."
Usually treated as uncountable; the plural is rare and used only for distinct instances or occurrences.
"The patient reported recurrent engorgements following each treatment cycle."
A female tick can increase her body weight up to 100 times through engorgement — one blood meal turns her into a balloon several hundred times her original size.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of engorgement
Engorgement comes from the verb engorge, which entered English from French engorger, itself built on Old French gorge meaning 'throat' (from Late Latin gurga, related to Latin gurges, 'whirlpool'). Originally it meant to swallow or devour greedily, and the noun engorgement first carried this sense of gluttonous consumption before narrowing toward its modern medical meaning of swelling from excess fluid or blood. It shares its root with words such as gorge, disgorgement, and regorge.
Related word forms
How engorgement is actually used
Engorgement is chiefly used in medical and veterinary contexts. It carries a clinical rather than emotive tone; in everyday speech, simpler words like swelling are usually preferred. The word is uncountable in its general sense but can take a plural when referring to distinct instances.
Easily confused with engorgement
Engorgement refers to swelling with fluid, while engagement means a commitment, appointment, or involvement.