vocab Flashcards
Abstain
To voluntarily refrain from something. (EX: The dental hygienist instructed the patient to abstain from smoking to improve his breath odor.)
Abrupt
Sudden and possibly unexpected
Accolade
Tribute or honor.
Accountable
To be responsible. (EX: Paramedics are accountable for maintaining up-to-date knowledge or resuscitation techniques.)
Acute
Sudden, intense. (EX: The nurse administered the prescribed pain medication to the patient who was experiencing acute pain after surgery.)
Adhere
To hold fast or stick together. (EX: The tape must adhere to the patient’s skin to hold the bandage in place.)
Adverse
Undesired, possibly harmful. (EX: Vomiting is an adverse effect of many medications.)
Aegis
Control, protection. (EX: Unit staffing decisions are under the aegis of the nurse manager.)
Aggregate
A sum total of many things.
Aggrieved
Hurt or angry.
Ambivalent
Uncertain, having contradictory feelings. (EX: After learning that she had breast cancer, the patient was ambivalent about having a mastectomy.)
Anachronism
A thing of the past. “My disease is anachronism”
Antidote
Cure or remedy. “I need an antidote for this headache”
Alleviate
Reduce. “This medicine is alleviating my pain”
Apply
To place, put on, or spread something.
Assent
To give consent, to agree.
Audible
Able to be heard. (EX: The respiratory therapist noted the patient’s audible wheezing as a symptom of the patient’s asthma.
Bacteria
Single-celled, microscopic organisms.
Barrage
Bombardment, onslaught. (continuous attack). “This staph disease is so barrage, I keep getting butt pimples.”
Bearing
Manner, direction, or influence.
Benign
Not harmful.
Bilateral
Present on two sides.
Callous
Heartless, cruel, or pitiless.
Cardiac
Of or relating to the heart.
Cataract
Medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.
Cavity
An opening or an empty area.
Cease
Come to an end or bring to an end.
Chronology
Order of events as they occurred; timeline.
Compensatory
Offsetting (amount that diminishes or balances the effect of a contrary one) or making up for something. Best described as corrective.
Concave
Rounded inward. (RBC)
Concise
Brief, to the point.
Consistency
Degree of viscosity; how thick or thin a fluid is in relation to how it flows. (Texture).
Constitute
To establish, create, or organize.
Constrict
To draw together or become smaller. “Blood vessels constrict when you are in a cold environment”
Contingent
Dependent/reliant.
Contraindication
A reason something is not advisable or should not be done.
Convoluted
To be complex. “Her symptoms were very convoluted: back pain, headache, and severe nose bleed.”
Convulsive
Having or causing convulsions (violent shaking of the body [epilepsy])
Covert
Hidden or concealed. “Her bruises were covert under her clothes”
Cursory
Quick, perfunctory, not thorough. “run a cursory examination on the adult.”
Defecate
Expel feces.
Deficit
A deficiency or lack of something.
Delusional
Confused or mistaken.
Depress
Press downward.
Depth
Downward measurement from a surface.
Desiccated
Dried or withered. “Her feces were desiccated”
Deteriorating
Worsening.
Device
Tool or piece of equipment.
Diagnosis
Identification of an injury or disease.
Dilate
To enlarge or expand.
Dilute
To make a liquid less concentrated.
Discrete
Distinct, separate. “Her bruises were so discrete, scattered all around her body”
Distal
Distant; away from the center (body).
Distended
Enlarged or expanded from pressure. “Her stomach looked like a balloon, it was distended”
Docile
Easily handled, tame i.e. not dangerous or frightened by people. “The little girl was docile, very gullible.”
Dysfunction
Impaired or abnormal functioning.
Earthly
Worldly or possible.
Empathy
Ability to share what others are feeling; understanding the feelings of another.
Endogenous
Developing internally of body. “Cells are endogenous”
Eradicate
To destroy completely. “Everyone wants to eradicate cancer.”
Equilibrium
Balance.
Ethereal
Being extremely delicate or refined, ghostly, or eerie.
Etiology
The origin or cause of a disease or condition.
Euphemism
An inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive. “Im sorry, but your father passed away.”
Euphoric
Confident. (I am euphoric about this exam.)
Exacerbate
To make worse or more severe.
Exogenous
Developing externally of body. “Hair is exogenous”
Expand
To increase in size or amount.
Expectorate
To cough up discharge from the lungs through the mouth. (spit).
Exposure
To come in contact.
Extension
Lengthening; unbending a joint.
External
Located outside the body.
Fatal
Resulting in death.
Fatigue
Extreme tiredness, exhaustion.
Febrile
Fever.
Flaccid
Soft and hanging loosely or limply, especially so as to look or feel unpleasant. (LIMP) (PENIS)
Flexion
Bending a joint. “FLEXING YOUR ARM”
Flushed
Reddened or ruddy appearance.
Forgo
Omit (to leave out or exclude). (FORGO-> NOGO).
Gastrointestinal
Of or relating to the stomach and the intestines.
Halitosis
Bad breath.
Hedge
Evade, circumvent, or dodge. (ESCAPE OR AVOID).
Heedless
To be thoughtless, unmindful, or careless.
Hematologic
Of or relating to blood.
Hydration
Maintenance of body fluid balance.
Hygiene
Measures contributing to cleanliness and good health.
Impaired
Diminished or lacking some usual quality or level.
Impending
Occurring in the near future, about to happen.
Impervious
Impenetrable, not allowing anything to pass through. “skin”
Implement
To put into action or to cause it to happen.
Imply
To suggest without explicitly stating. (Sender of a message implies)
Incidence
Occurrence.
Infection
Contamination or invasion of body tissue by pathogenic organisms.
Infer
To conclude or deduce- arrive at a fact. (The receiver of the message infers)
Inflamed
Reddened, swollen, warm, and often tender.
Ingest
To swallow for digestion.
Inhibits
To hold back, constrain, reduce, or slow. “Migraine pills inhibit migraines”
Initiate
To begin or put into practice.
Insidious
So gradual as to not become apparent (clearly visible) for a long time.
Intact
In place, unharmed, or whole.
Internal
Located within the body.
Invasive
Inserting or entering into a body part.
Kinetic
Of or relating to movement.
Labile
Changing rapidly and often. (VOLATILE)
Laceration
Cut;tear.
Latent
Present but not active or visible.
Lateral
On the side.
Legacy
Bequest or relic.
Lethargic
Difficult to arouse. (wake).
Malaise
Sickness, condition, or dissatisfaction.
Malignant
Expected to grow and worsen.
Manifestation
An indication or sign of a condition.
Milieu
The environmental condition or setting.
Musculoskeletal
Of or relating to muscle and skeleton.
Nebulous
Vague (uncertain, unclear).
Neurologic
Of or relating to the nervous system.
Neurovascular
Of or relating to the nervous system and blood vessels.
Nutrient
Substance or ingredient that provides nourishment.
Obtuse
Ignorant.
Occluded
Closed or obstructed.
Ominous
Giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious. (portentous).
Ongoing
Continuous.
Oral
Given through or affecting the mouth.
Otic
Of the ear.
Oubliette
Dungeon, prison, or cell.
Overt
OBVIOUS OR VISIBLE.
Painful
Aching. (Sore, throbbing with pain).
Paltry
Worthless.
Panacea
Cure, solution, or remedy.
Parameter
A characteristic or constant FACTOR, limit. Structure.
Paroxysmal
Sudden, recurrence spasms or seizures.
Patent
Open.
Pathogenic
Causing or able to cause a disease.
Pathology
Processes, causes, and effects of a disease; abnormality.
Pediculosis
Infested with lice.
Posterior
Located behind; in the back.
Potent
Producing a strong effect.
Potential
Capable of occurring or likely to occur.
Precaution
Preventive measure.
Precipitous
Rapid, uncontrolled.
Predispose
To make more susceptible or more likely to occur. make someone liable or inclined to a specified attitude, action, or condition.
Preexisting
Already present.
Primary
First or most significant.
Priority
Of great importance.
Progeny
Offspring.
Prognosis
The anticipated or expected course or outcome. (EX: The physician explained that, with treatment, the patient’s prognosis was for a long and healthy life.)
Proliferation
A rapid increase in number.
Q.I.D
4 times a day.
Quarantine
Strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of a disease or to exclude, detain, or isolate. (CONFINEMENT: keep or restrict someone from something)
Raucous
Wild, loud, or disorderly.
Rampant
Unrestrained.
Rancid
Smelling unpleasant.
Rationale
The underlying reason| LOGIC. (EX: To make sure that the patient will follow the diet instructions, the medical assistant explains the rationale for the low-salt diet.)
Ravenus
Hungry.
Recur
To occur again.
Regale
To entertain, amuse, or delight.
Regimen
A systematic plan for therapy.
Relic
Thing of the past.
Remission
Improvement or absence of signs of disease.
Renal
Of or relating to the kidneys.
Respiration
Inhalation or exhalation of air.
Restrict
To limit.
Retain
To hold or keep.
Rigid
Not flexible.
Serene
Calm, tranquil.
Spinster
An unmarried woman.
Sputum
A mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract, typically as a result of infection or other disease.
Status
Condition.
Sublingual
Under the tongue.
Substantial
Having substance or sustaining. Strengthen or support physically or mentally.
Supplement
To take in addition to or to complete.
Suppress
To stop or subdue. (counter).
Supposition
A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence.
Susceptible
Likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing. (PREDISPOSE).
Symmetric (symmetrical)
Being equal or the same in size, shape, and relative position.
Symptom
An indication of a problem.
Syndrome
Group of symptoms that, when occurring together, reflect a specific disease or disorder.
Tertiary Health Care
A system to return patients to wellness.
Therapeutic
Of or relating to the treatment of a disease or a disorder.
Toxic
Causing harm or poisonous.
Transdermal
Crossing through the skin.
Transmission
Transfer, such as of a disease, from one person to another.
Trauma
Injury, wound.
Triage
Process used to determine the priority of treatment for patients according to the severity of a patient’s condition and the likelihood of benefit from the treatment.
Ubiquitous
Being or seeming to be everywhere at once.
Untoward
Adverse, negative.
Urinate
Excrete or expel urine.
Vascular
Of or relating to blood vessels.
Verbal
Spoken, using words.
Virulent
Extremely harmful and severe.
Virus
Microscopic infectious agent capable of replicating only in living cells, usually causing infectious disease.
Vital
Essential.
Void
To urinate.
Volatile
Labile, change rapidly.
Volume
Amount of space occupied by a fluid.
