ventilator

[ven-tl-ey-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that ventilates.

2. a contrivance or opening for replacing foul or stagnant air with fresh air.

3. Medicine/Medical.,  an apparatus to produce artificial respiration, moving air into and out of a patient’s lungs.

   The patient presented with signs of respiratory failure and was placed immediately on a ventilator.

ventilator

/ ˈvɛntɪˌleɪtə /

noun

1. an opening or device, such as a fan, used to ventilate a room, building, etc

2. med a machine that maintains a flow of air into and out of the lungs of a patient who is unable to breathe normally

Word History and Origins

Origin of ventilator¹

First recorded in 1735–45; ventilat(e) + -or ²

Example Sentences

One of the trialled drugs caused her to stop breathing, and she had be put on a ventilator.

Read more on BBC

Yusuf's family called on the trust to ensure families were told that when their children were on a ventilator they may still be able to hear them, and should be encouraged to interact with them.

Read more on BBC

They are costumed as though you asked a coma patient, freshly awake after 20 years on the ventilator, to sketch these ladies from memory.

Read more on Salon

If the power went out completely, dozens of patients, particularly those dependent of ventilators, would "be in immediate danger and face certain death", the hospital added.

Read more on BBC

"I saw him on the ventilator, his chest going up and down as he was breathing, and it was like 'Get up! Open your eyes'."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fireplace 
• flue 
• furnace 
• hearth 
• pipe 
• stack 
• vent