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Webster 1913 Edition


Cataract

Cat′a-ract

,
Noun.
[L.
cataracta
,
catarracles
, a waterfall, Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to break down; in the passive, to fall or rush down (of tumors) to burst;
κατά
down + [GREEK] to break.]
1.
A great fall of water over a precipice; a large waterfall.
2.
(Surg.)
An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight.
3.
(Mach.)
A kind of hydraulic brake for regulating the action of pumping engines and other machines; – sometimes called
dashpot
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Cataract

CATARACT

,
Noun.
1.
A great fall of water over a precipice; as that of Niagara, of the Rhine, Danube and Nile. It is a cascade upon a great scale.
The tremendous cataracts of America thundering in their solitudes.
2.
In medicine and surgery, an opacity of the cystaline lens, or its capsule; a disorder in the eye, by which the pupil, which is usually black and transparent, becomes opake, blue, gray, brown, &c., by which vision is impaired or destroyed.

Definition 2024


cataract

cataract

English

Noun

cataract (plural cataracts)

  1. (obsolete) A waterspout
  2. A large waterfall; steep rapids in a river.
    The cataracts on the Nile helped to compartment Upper Egypt.
  3. A flood of water (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  4. An overwhelming downpour or rush
    His cataract of eloquence
  5. (pathology) a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision.
    • 1999, J J Gallo, J Busby-Whitehead, W Reichel, P V Rabins, R A Silliman, Reichel's care of the elderly, page 563:
      Rarely, a dense, swollen neglected cataract precipitates an angle-closure glaucoma.

Derived terms

  • cataractal

Translations


Dutch

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ca‧ta‧ract

Noun

cataract f (plural cataracten, diminutive cataractje n)

  1. cataract, waterfall
  2. (pathology) cataract

Synonyms