cannula
Americannoun
noun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cannula
First recorded in 1675–85; from New Latin, Latin: “small reed,” equivalent to cann(a) “reed, cane” + -ula diminutive suffix; see origin at 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."
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:
Until now, hospital pharmacy teams have had to prepare a bag of the drug under sterile conditions which is then given as an infusion into the vein through a cannula.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
She recalls one member, who has since died, who would regularly poll the group about which Band-Aid should cover their cannula tube.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024
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
Even the nose cannula looks good on her when she smiles like that.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
I ripped it off, only to find it was my rebreathing bag and nasal cannulae.
From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2020
They hooked me up to a rebreathing bag and put nasal cannulae up my nose that pumped in pure oxygen.
From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2020
The infusion cannulae remained in place for 1 min after the infusion.
From Nature ● Mar. 21, 2017
First Litwak and his team insert two cannulae, or tubes, of flexible silicone into the patient's open chest.
From Time Magazine Archive
A sterile, bent probe may be inserted downward in the trachea with both cannulae out to excite cough if necessary to expel secretions.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Jackson, Chevalier
It weighs between 60 and 200 pounds depending on the model, and is attached to the child with two cannulas almost as large as garden hoses.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024
She added that on feeling hot at one point, she wanted to change her t-shirt, but the process proved lengthy due to cannulas in her arms.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2023
For example, doctors are turning to nasal cannulas, which are noninvasive prongs that blow oxygen into the nose, before a ventilator.
From The Verge ● Jul. 8, 2020
If he fumbles around in the surge clinic trying to figure how to fit the oxygen cannulas over someone’s face, he tells himself, “They’ll teach me, and I’ll learn to do it.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2020
After Giulianotti arrived in the operating room, the physician assistant and the chief resident made four tiny incisions, marked with red dots, on her stomach, and inserted narrow tubes, called cannulas, into the holes.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 23, 2019
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.
