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cannula

American  
[kan-yuh-luh] / ˈkæn yə lə /
Sometimes canula

noun

Surgery.

plural

cannulas, cannulae

  1. a metal tube for insertion into the body to draw off fluid or to introduce medication.

cannula British  
/ ˈkænjʊlə /

noun

  1. surgery a narrow tube for insertion into a bodily cavity, as for draining off fluid, introducing medication, etc

"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

  • cannulation noun

Etymology

Origin of cannula

First recorded in 1675–85; from New Latin, Latin: “small reed,” equivalent to cann(a) “reed, cane” + -ula diminutive suffix; cane, -ule

Compare meaning

How does cannula compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Explanation

In medicine, a cannula is a very thin tube that's used to deliver medicine. A patient undergoing surgery will often have a cannula inserted into a vein so that anesthesia can be administered. If you've ever had an IV in a hospital or doctor's office, you've had a cannula, which is nothing more than the flexible tube that fluids or medication flows through. Donating blood or having a blood test involves cannulas as well — in this case, a small amount of blood flows from your vein into the cannula. This is a Latin word that means "small reed or pipe," from canna, "reed or pipe."

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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.

It also called on the health service to record parental concerns, review workloads for ambulance crews, and review training around cannula, vascular access insertion, and intravenous therapy.

From BBC • Jul. 31, 2025

The sterile procedure would need to be temporarily halted while a nasal cannula with nasal prongs was placed in both nostrils and the delivery of oxygen was begun.

From Slate • Jan. 29, 2025

In VV-ECMO, deoxygenated blood is pumped through a membrane lung and returned to the body via a cannula.

From Science Daily • Feb. 6, 2024

“I don’t know how long I’ll indefinitely need the oxygen,” she added while gesturing toward her nasal cannula, “but you have no idea how blessed and how grateful I was for this holiday season.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2024

I took it off and let Jackie stick the cannula in her nose and breathe.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.