Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fistula"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fistula \Fis"tu*la\ (?; 135), n.; pl. {Fistul[ae]}. [L.]
1. A reed; a pipe.
2. A pipe for convejing water. [Obs.] --Knight.
3. (Med.) A permanent abnormal opening into the soft parts
with a constant discharge; a deep, narrow, chronic
abscess; an abnormal opening between an internal cavity
and another cavity or the surface; as, a salivary fistula;
an anal fistula; a recto-vaginal fistula.
{Incomplete fistula} (Med.), a fistula open at one end only.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fistula
n : an abnormal passage leading from a suppurating cavity to the
body surface [syn: {sinus}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.