Gangrene of the jawbone caused by phosphorus poisoning.
Example sentencesExamples
Phossy jaw is a very distressing form of industrial disease.
Many of the women suffered from ‘phossy jaw’, a particularly nasty form of bone cancer caused by handling the yellow phosphorus used in match production.
Origin
Late 19th century: phossy by abbreviation of phosphorus necrosis, denoting gangrene of the jaw.