Crossword clues for cataract
cataract
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cataract \Cat"a*ract\, n. [L. cataracta, catarracles, a waterfall, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? to break down; in the passive, to fall or rush down (of tumors) to burst; kata` down + ? to break.]
A great fall of water over a precipice; a large waterfall.
(Surg.) An opacity of the crystalline lens, or of its capsule, which prevents the passage of the rays of light and impairs or destroys the sight.
(Mach.) A kind of hydraulic brake for regulating the action of pumping engines and other machines; -- sometimes called dashpot.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktes "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second element is traced either to arhattein "to strike hard" (in which case the compound is kat-arrhattein), or to rhattein "to dash, break."\n
\nIts alternative sense in Latin of "portcullis" probably was passed through French to form the English meaning "eye disease" (early 15c.), on the notion of "obstruction" (to eyesight).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context obsolete English) A waterspout 2 A large waterfall; steep rapids in a river. 3 A flood of water (rfex) 4 An overwhelming downpour or rush 5 (context pathology English) A disease of the eye causing its opacity and, unless treated, leading to blindness.
WordNet
n. clouding of the natural lens of the eye
a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice
Wikipedia
A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision. It can affect one or both eyes. Often it develops slowly. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and trouble seeing at night. This may result in trouble driving, reading, or recognizing faces. Poor vision may also result in an increased risk of falling and depression. Cataracts are the cause of half of blindness and 33% of visual impairment worldwide.
Cataracts are most commonly due to aging but may also occur due to trauma or radiation exposure, be present from birth, or occur following eye surgery for other problems. Risk factors include diabetes, smoking tobacco, prolonged exposure to sunlight, and alcohol. Either clumps of protein or yellow-brown pigment may be deposited in the lens reducing the transmission of light to the retina at the back of the eye. Diagnosis is by an eye examination.
Prevention includes wearing sunglasses and not smoking. Early on the symptoms may be improved with eyeglasses. If this does not help, surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with an artificial lens is the only effective treatment. Surgery is only needed if the cataracts are causing problems. Surgery generally results in an improved quality of life. Cataract surgery is not easily available in many countries, which is especially true for women, those living in rural areas, and those who cannot read.
About 20 million people globally are blind due to cataracts. It is the cause of about 5% of blindness in the United States and nearly 60% of blindness in parts of Africa and South America. Blindness from cataracts occurs in about 10 to 40 per 100,000 children in the developing world and 1 to 4 per 100,000 children in the developed world. Cataracts become more common with age. More than half the people in the United States had cataracts by the age of 80.
Cataract was a Swiss metalcore band, signed to Metal Blade Records. The band formed in 1998 and disbanded in 2013.
Cataract is an opacity in the lens of the eye.
Cataract may also refer to:
- Cataract, a large, powerful waterfall
A cataract was a speed governing device used for early single-acting beam engines, particularly atmospheric engines and Cornish engines.
The cataract is distinctly different from the Watt governor, in that it does not control the speed of the engine's stroke, but rather the timing between them.
Cataract is the second album by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on March 1, 1989 through Sub Pop Records.
Usage examples of "cataract".
Once a suspension-bridge, built sorely against the will of the neighboring habitans, hung from these towers high over the long plunge of the cataract.
Major Powell ascertained that these cavate lodges were occupied by the Havasupai Indians now living in Cataract canyon, who are closely related to the Walapai, and who, it is said, were driven from this region by the Spaniards.
So it has been suggested that the Knossos lid and the Baghdad lion are the scanty relics of a great Hyksos empire which once extended from the Euphrates to the First Cataract of the Nile, and possibly also held Crete in subjection.
Both eyes were so heavily cataracted they looked more like immies than eyes.
The instruments on their backs extended and swiveled sensors, peered and listened through the whole spectrum, did not intrude with radar or sonar but surveyed and triangulated, micrometrically precise, a cataract of data pouring into their recorders.
The Paranapane, on which most of the missions of Guayra were situated, flows from the east, and falls into the Parana, not much more than fifty miles above the cataract.
In these cases the lesions have consisted of detachment of the retina, optic atrophy, cataract, hemorrhages into the retina, and rupture of the choroid, paralysis of the oculomotor muscles, and paralysis of the optic nerve.
East stretched his ample jurisdiction into the three parts of the globe which were subject to the Romans, from the cataracts of the Nile to the banks of the Phasis, and from the mountains of Thrace to the frontiers of Persia.
His soul was but a black gulf into which poured the Phlegethontic cataract of their conversation.
He was charmed with the scenery and solitude about Rhyaider Gowy, in Radnorshire, which lies amidst romantic mountains, and in immediate vicinity to a cataract of the Wye.
It could be lesions, macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, or even cataracts.
A few days after I found myself dining with him at the house of the lady with the cataract.
Jojasta told Bomba that he must go to Sobrinini of the Pilati tribe, beyond the Giant Cataract, and that she could tell him about his father and mother.
Kithorn and down by the Cataracts where Rathillien is most itself and least susceptible to any encroachment.
Host and the Horde are expected to reach Hurlen above the Cataracts around the thirtieth.