Crossword clues for embolus
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Embolus \Em"bo*lus\, n.; pl. Emboli. [L., fr. Gr. ? pointed so as to be put or thrust in, fr. ? to throw, thrust, or put in. See Emblem.]
Something inserted, as a wedge; the piston or sucker of a pump or syringe.
(Med.) A plug of some substance lodged in a blood vessel, being brought thither by the blood current. It consists most frequently of a clot of fibrin, a detached shred of a morbid growth, a globule of fat, or a microscopic organism.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1660s, "stopper, wedge," from Latin embolus "piston of a pump," from Greek embolos "peg, stopper; anything pointed so as to be easily thrust in," also "a tongue (of land), beak (of a ship)," from emballein "to insert, throw in, invade" (see emblem). Medical sense in reference to obstruction of a blood vessel is from 1866. Related: Embolic.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context pathology English) An obstruction causing an embolism: a blood clot, air bubble or other matter carried by the bloodstream and causing a blockage or occlusion of a blood vessel. 2 (context zoology English) The structure on the end of the palp of male arachnids which contains the opening to the ejaculatory duct.
WordNet
n. an abnormal particle (e.g. an air bubble or part of a clot) circulating in the blood
[also: emboli (pl)]
Wikipedia
An embolus (plural emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "wedge", "plug") is an unattached mass that travels through the bloodstream and is capable of clogging arterial capillary beds (create an arterial occlusion) at a site distant from its point of origin. There are a number of different types of emboli, including blood clots, cholesterol plaque or crystals, fat globules, gas bubbles, and foreign bodies.
By contrast there are non-traveling blockages that develop locally from vascular trauma or epithelial pathology and vascular inflammation — such as atheromata and thrombi. However, if a thrombus breaks loose from its genesis site it becomes a thrombo-embolus and if not broken down during transit, may cause embolism(s).
The term was coined in 1848 by Rudolf Virchow.
Usage examples of "embolus".
A shower of emboli from a calcified heart valve had been loosed during surgery and Frank Gork, formally Frank Segelman, had been left brain-dead.
Glass phials within which emboli floated, turning slowly in a tideless tide.
Most are discovered as emboli that took birth at some site distant from their final lodgment.
I had never known the meaning of insomnia, but for many nights, turgid jugular veins and floating emboli brought me gasping to wakefulness.
Cause of Death: Respiratory arrest occurred as a complication of myocardial infarction occurring as a complication of pulmonary embolus.
For example, a patient who had a cesarean section two days ago might have normal vital signs, but an anxious look on her face and a little shortness of breath would make me wonder if she has a pulmonary embolus from a blood clot in her leg.