whitlow
/ˈwɪtləʊ
/noun
An abscess in the soft tissue near a fingernail or toenail.Herpetic whitlow is an HSV infection of the fingers and toes and may represent a primary infection or a secondary recurrence of type 1 or 2 HSV infection....
- Another causes whitlows on fingers, feet, knees and shoulders.
- I should have remembered, as a dental colleague has just reminded me, what a problem herpetic whitlows used to be in our dental undergraduates before they were made to wear gloves.
Origin
Late Middle English (also as whitflaw, -flow), apparently from white + flaw1 in the sense 'crack', but perhaps related to Dutch fijt 'whitlow'.