cataract Hear it!

cataract definition

cata·ract (kat′ə rakt′)

noun

  1. a large waterfall
  2. any strong flood or rush of water; deluge
    1. an eye disease in which the crystalline lens or its capsule becomes opaque, causing partial or total blindness
    2. the opaque area

Etymology: ME cataracte, floodgate (of heaven), cataract (of the eye) < L cataracta, a waterfall, portcullis < Gr katarhaktēs < katarhassein, to dash down < kata-, down + rhassein, to strike or ? arassein, to smite

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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