Caries

decay, as of bone or of plant tissue.
dental caries.
a female given name, form of Caroline.
Historical Examples

There are two forms of disease to which these teeth are liable; caries, or decay, and a loss of vitality, or death.
The Horse’s Mouth Edward Mayhew

In some cases, the odor arising from caries is combined with that of the stomach.
The Ladies Book of Useful Information Anonymous

Two-thirds, for instance, of our cases of hip-joint disease and of spinal disease (caries) are due to tuberculosis.
Preventable Diseases Woods Hutchinson

In toothache arising from caries, and as a lotion to the temples in headache.
Cooley’s Practical Receipts, Volume II Arnold Cooley

On removing the caries, he found it impossible to fill her teeth, because the openings continued through them.
Popular Education Ira Mayhew

The quality of Fijian teeth as reflected by frequency of caries is excellent.
A Racial Study of the Fijians Norman E. Gabel

In the course of a chronic middle-ear suppuration, the incus may become exfoliated or gradually disappear as the result of caries.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4) Various

It was a case of caries, they said, and Austin mustn’t hunt sheep any more.
Austin and His Friends Frederic H. Balfour

If the habit of body allows of any hope of curing the caries, the method I have pointed out XX.
A dissertation on the inutility of the amputation of limbs Johann Ulrich Bilguer

Scepticism, that caries of the intelligence, had not left him a single whole idea.
Les Misrables Victor Hugo

noun (pl) -ies
progressive decay of a bone or a tooth
n.

1630s, from Latin caries “rottenness, decay,” from Proto-Italic *kas-, usually said to be from PIE root *kere- “to injure, break apart” (cf. Greek ker “death, destruction,” Old Irish krin “withered, faded”). Related: Carious. But de Vaan writes that “semantically, caries may just as well belong to careocared ‘to lack’ as ‘defect, state of defectiveness’ ….”

caries car·ies (kâr’ēz)
n. pl. caries
Decay of a bone or tooth, especially dental caries.
caries
(kâr’ēz)

Plural caries
Decay of a bone or tooth. Dental plaque formed by bacteria initiates a progressive process of decay that, if left unchecked, leads to tooth loss.