WordValeembolism
blockage of a blood vessel by a traveling clot or bubble
In more detail
1. (noun) a blood clot or bubble of air that travels through blood vessels and can block blood flow, causing serious medical problems
2. (noun) the insertion of a day into a calendar to adjust it to match the solar year
Examples
- 1. The patient suffered a pulmonary embolism when a blood clot traveled to her lungs.
- 2. The leap day is an embolism added to the calendar every four years.
How to use embolism
In medical contexts, embolism refers to any mass (usually a blood clot or air bubble) that travels through the circulatory system and lodges in a vessel, potentially causing stroke, heart attack, or pulmonary complications. The less common calendrical sense is technical and historical. The adjective embolic and the related noun embolus are standard in clinical language.
Common phrases
- pulmonary embolism
- air embolism
- fat embolism
- cerebral embolism
- embolism risk
- life-threatening embolism
Synonyms
thromboembolism · clot · blockage · obstruction · plug
Word family
embolic (adjective) · embolize (verb) · embolus (noun)
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse embolism with thrombosis; thrombosis is a clot forming in place, whereas embolism is a clot or material traveling through vessels.
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