osteoarthritis

noun

os·te·o·ar·thri·tis | \ ˌä-stē-ō-är-ˈthrī-təs

Definition of osteoarthritis

: a common form of arthritis typically with onset during middle or old age that is characterized by progressive degenerative changes in the cartilage of one or more joints (as of the knees, hips, and hands) accompanied by thickening and overgrowth of adjacent bone and that is marked symptomatically chiefly by stiffness, swelling, pain, deformation of joints, and loss of range of motion —abbreviation OA — compare rheumatoid arthritis

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Examples of osteoarthritis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Data from a long-running National Institutes of Health study on knee osteoarthritis showed that Black patients, and people with lower incomes, reported more pain than other patients with x-rays radiologists scored as similar. — Tom Simonite, Wired, "New Algorithms Could Reduce Racial Disparities in Health Care," 25 Jan. 2021 At 70, John Martin was a retired farmer who suffered from debilitating osteoarthritis and hypertension. — Akilah Johnson, ProPublica, "How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men," 22 Dec. 2020 The policy is about as intelligent as repeatedly hitting one’s big toe with a hammer to cure osteoarthritis. — Itxu Díaz, National Review, "Spain’s Government Declares War on the Spanish Language," 25 Nov. 2020 By then, obesity and osteoarthritis had robbed Maradona of the cartilage in his knees. — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, "The magic, and tragedy, of Diego Armando Maradona," 25 Nov. 2020 For starters, obesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis, and weight gain triggered by menopause can place stress on joints. — Jennifer King Lindley, Good Housekeeping, "The Science of Joint Health," 1 Oct. 2020 Already, her mother has a host of medical conditions, including heart disease, COPD, osteoarthritis and macular degeneration. — Shefali Luthra, USA TODAY, "For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making," 17 Oct. 2020 American depositary receipts of Galapagos dropped 7% offhours after the biotech company said its treatment for knee osteoarthritis failed in phase-two trials. — Jem Bartholomew, WSJ, "Boeing, Galapagos, Intuitive Surgical: What to Watch When the Stock Market Opens Today," 16 Oct. 2020 That’s knee osteoarthritis, the most common joint problem in the U.S., which affects about 10 percent of men and 13 percent of women over the age of 60. — Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, "Why Don't Runners' Knees Fail More Often?," 14 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'osteoarthritis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

26 Feb 2021

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“Osteoarthritis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/osteoarthritis. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

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More Definitions for osteoarthritis

osteoarthritis

noun

English Language Learners Definition of osteoarthritis

medical : a disease that causes the joints to become very painful and stiff

See the full definition for osteoarthritis in the English Language Learners Dictionary

osteoarthritis

noun

os·teo·ar·thri·tis | \ ˌäs-tē-ō-är-ˈthrīt-əs

plural osteoarthritides\ -ˈthrit-ə-ˌdēz

Medical Definition of osteoarthritis

— called also degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint disease, hypertrophic arthritis

— compare rheumatoid arthritis

Other Words from osteoarthritis

osteoarthritic \ -ˈthrit-ik

\ adjective

Treatment for hand and finger osteoarthritis has the same goals as treatment for any osteoarthritic joint: pain reduction, mobility maintenance and minimization of disability. — Paul G. Donohue, The Springfield (Massachusetts) Union-News, 11 Mar. 1998

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