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apheresis

American  
[uh-fer-uh-sis, af-uh-ree-sis] / əˈfɛr ə sɪs, ˌæf əˈri sɪs /

noun

  1. Also the loss or omission of one or more letters or sounds at the beginning of a word, as in squire for esquire, or count for account.

  2. Medicine/Medical. the withdrawal of whole blood from the body, separation of one or more components, and return by transfusion of remaining blood to the donor.


apheresis British  
/ əˈfɪərɪsɪs /

noun

  1. the omission of a letter or syllable at the beginning of a word

  2. a method of collecting blood from donors that enables its different components, such as the platelets or plasma, to be separated out

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of apheresis

1605–15; < Late Latin aphaeresis < Greek aphaíresis a taking away, equivalent to aphairé ( în ) to take away ( ap- ap- 2 + haireîn to snatch) + -sis -sis

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He doesn’t use an alarm clock — he never needs one — when he wanders downstairs to chug exactly 32 ounces of water to prepare for his 8 a.m. apheresis appointment, or blood platelet donation.

From Seattle Times Nov. 9, 2022

About a month passed between the apheresis and when the CAR T cells were ready to be infused.

From Salon Aug. 26, 2022

Experimental treatments are being offered at private clinics in Cyprus, Germany, and Switzerland where medics use apheresis, a "blood washing" treatment, and anticoagulants - blood thinning drugs.

From BBC Aug. 22, 2022

Miltenyi Biotec, a company in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, makes apheresis devices, which remove substances from plasma, and it is developing a technology that would selectively scrub suPAR out of patients' blood.

From Science Magazine Apr. 19, 2018

She later joined the NIH Clinical Center, whose apheresis clinic was named in her honor after her retirement in 1990.

From Washington Post

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