dialysis

[ dahy-al-uh-sis ]

noun

, plural di·al·y·ses [dahy-, al, -, uh, -seez].

1. Physical Chemistry. the separation of crystalloids from colloids in a solution by diffusion through a membrane.
2. Biochemistry. the separation of large molecules, as proteins, from small molecules and ions in a solution by allowing the latter to pass through a semipermeable membrane.
3. Medicine/Medical. (in kidney disease) the process by which uric acid and urea are removed from circulating blood by means of a dialyzer.

dialysis

/ daɪˈælɪsɪs; ˌdaɪəˈlɪtɪk /

noun

1. the separation of small molecules from large molecules and colloids in a solution by the selective diffusion of the small molecules through a semipermeable membrane
2. med See haemodialysis peritoneal dialysis

dialysis

/ dī-ăl′ĭ-sĭs /

1. The separation of the smaller molecules in a solution from the larger molecules by passing the solution through a membrane that does not allow the large molecules to pass through.
2. A medical procedure in which this technique of molecular separation is used to remove metabolic waste products or toxic substances from the blood. Dialysis is required for individuals with severe kidney failure.

dialysis

1. The separation of large molecules from small molecules by passage through a membrane.

Notes

A common treatment for kidney disease is the use of a dialysis machine to filter toxic substances from the blood, a function that the kidneys normally perform.

Derived Forms

• ˌdiaˈlytically, adverb
• dialytic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dialysis¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin, from Greek diálysis “separation”; equivalent to dia- + -lysis

Word History and Origins

Origin of dialysis¹

C16: from Late Latin: a separation, from Greek dialusis a dissolution, from dialuein to tear apart, dissolve, from luein to loosen

Example Sentences

She was born blind, she said, and also has poor hearing in one ear and a kidney problem that has left her on dialysis for seven years.

From Washington Post

Several years after it was exposed in a Life magazine article, Congress took the landmark step to cover all dialysis patients with Medicare.

From ProPublica

This year, the industry came close to breaking that record to defeat a measure that would have further regulated dialysis clinics and that DaVita said would have limited access to care.

From Fortune

He didn’t want to inconvenience any of the teachers at the school, and he thought they had already done enough for him by setting up a fundraiser to support his dialysis.

From Washington Post

Proposition 23, which would require kidney dialysis clinics to have at least one physician present during operating hours and to report infection data to the state, was also important to her because her uncle receives kidney treatment.

From Voice of San Diego

The result can be total kidney failure and the need for dialysis; for some people, the kidney failure is permanent.

From The Daily Beast

Kidney disease, formerly a major cause of death, has basically dropped out of the chart thanks to the invention of dialysis.

From The Daily Beast

For example, we are now having to deal with patients who would normally receive dialysis can no longer be accepted.

From The Daily Beast

The first and still the best example is dialysis, which costs more than $40,000 a year.

From The Daily Beast

He waged war on the modern with a Siemens dialysis machine in-tow, bankrolled by Aramco petrodollars.

From The Daily Beast

This process of separation of substances, which do not pass through membranes, from such as do, is called dialysis.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence we can easily separate by dialysis two bodies of different groups which are mixed in a solution.

From Project Gutenberg

Probably the only hope of relieving the tension is by the use of eserine or the performance of a cyclo-dialysis.

From Project Gutenberg

Any tartar emetic present in the sediment might have been procured in a pure form by the simple process of dialysis.

From Project Gutenberg

The dissolved proteins in each extract can be subsequently purified by dialysis, precipitation, etc.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• departure
• disengagement
• dissolution
• divorce
• estrangement
• partition
• segregation
• split