gout
n. uncountablen. a painful type of arthritis that causes swelling and redness in the joints, especially the big toe. It happens when too much uric acid builds up in your blood.
n. a form of inflammatory arthritis characterised by recurrent attacks of acute pain, swelling, and redness, typically affecting the first metatarsophalangeal joint. It results from the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in tissues due to hyperuricemia.
He changed his diet to help manage his gout.
The patient experienced a sudden flare-up of gout in his right foot after a weekend of heavy meals.
Historically associated with wealth and excess, gout is now understood as a metabolic disorder where the kidneys fail to efficiently excrete uric acid, leading to crystal formation in the joints.
From Middle English goute, from Old French gote, gute, from Latin gutta (“drop”). Compare Spanish gota (“drop, droplet”). Doublet of goutte and gutta. The sense shift derived from humorism and "the notion of the 'dropping' of a morbid material from the blood in and around the joints".
From French goût.
Typically used without an article when referring to the medical condition.