[syn: impingement, impaction]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Impaction \Im*pac"tion\, n. [L. impactio a striking : cf. F.
impaction.]
1. (Surg.) The driving of one fragment of bone into another
so that the fragments are not movable upon each other; as,
impaction of the skull or of the hip.
[1913 Webster]
2. An immovable packing; (Med.), a lodgment of something in a
strait or passage of the body; as, impaction of the fetal
head in the strait of the pelvis; impaction of food or
feces in the intestines of man or beast.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
impaction
n 1: the condition of being pressed closely together and firmly
fixed
2: a disorder in which feces are impacted in the lower colon
3: a disorder in which a tooth is so crowded in its socket that
it cannot erupt normally [syn: impaction, impacted tooth]
4: a sharp collision produced by striking or dashing against
something [syn: impingement, impaction]