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Synonyms

embolus

American  
[em-buh-luhs] / ˈɛm bə ləs /

noun

Pathology.
emboli plural
  1. undissolved material carried by the blood and impacted in some part of the vascular system, as thrombi or fragments of thrombi, tissue fragments, clumps of bacteria, protozoan parasites, fat globules, or gas bubbles.


embolus British  
/ ˈɛmbələs /

noun

  1. material, such as part of a blood clot or an air bubble, that is transported by the blood stream until it becomes lodged within a small vessel and impedes the circulation Compare thrombus

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of embolus

1660–70; < Latin: piston < Greek émbolos stopper, equivalent to em- em- 2 + bólos a throw, akin to bállein to throw

Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

She told the court that if the cause of death was established as air embolus, then it would have come from the person connecting the fluids, "which wasn't me".

From BBC May 18, 2023

He also went on to say that Dr Evans did not have any empirical research to back up his claims about the effects of air embolus.

From BBC Feb. 23, 2023

Fat in the bloodstream after an injury like mine signaled the possibility of a fat embolus, a rare but potentially fatal complication of long-bone fractures.

From Slate Mar. 15, 2015

Alternatively, plaque can break off and travel through the bloodstream as an embolus until it blocks a more distant, smaller artery.

From Textbooks Jun. 19, 2013

Finally, however, the resistance of the outworks is overcome, an embolus becomes detached, and an infectious abscess is opened into the blood—an event which is announced by an intense chill and the familiar systemic derangement.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Several months into the pandemic, doctors and scientists began to recognize that the coronavirus was causing blood clots, leading to strokes, heart attacks and emboli.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 14, 2022

He was immediately placed on a course of treatment but he died on 15 May from the pulmonary emboli and pneumonia.

From BBC May 4, 2022

The lung problem, pulmonary emboli, had been dogging him for 20 years.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 29, 2021

How do they escape the “bends”? The phenomenon where dissolved nitrogen resurfaces as bubbles causing emboli?

From New York Times Apr. 19, 2018

Erratic chills announce the lodgment of emboli in distant organs.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

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