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A contagious catarrhal inflammation of the genital mucous membrane, transmitted chiefly by coitus and due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae; may involve the lower or upper genital tract, especially the urethra, endocervix, and uterine tubes, or spread to the peritoneum and rarely to the heart, joints, or other structures by way of the bloodstream. [G. gonorrhoia, fr. gone, seed, + rhoia, a flow]
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gon·or·rhea or chiefly Brit gon·or·rhoea .gän-ə-'rē-ə n a contagious inflammation of the genital mucous membrane caused by the gonococcus called also clap
gon·or·rhe·al or chiefly Brit gon·or·rhoe·al -'rē-əl adj
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gon·or·rhea (gon″o-reґə) [gono-1 + -rrhea] infection due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae, usually a sexually transmitted disease; children in households with infected persons may become infected, and health care workers having contact with infected exudates may contract it. In males it is marked by urethritis with pain and purulent discharge, but in females it is commonly asymptomatic, although it may extend to produce suppurative salpingitis, oophoritis, tubo-ovarian abscess, and peritonitis. Bacteremia occurs in both sexes, resulting in cutaneous lesions, arthritis, and occasionally meningitis or endocarditis. gonorrheal adjMedical dictionary. 2011.