cardiac arrest

American  

noun

Pathology.

cardiac arrests plural

1. abrupt cessation of heartbeat.

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cardiac arrest British  

noun

1. failure of the pumping action of the heart, resulting in loss of consciousness and absence of pulse and breathing: a medical emergency requiring immediate resuscitative treatment

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cardiac arrest Cultural  

1. See heart attack.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cardiac arrests
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cardiac arrest

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

The student died of sudden cardiac arrest about three weeks later.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026

Two years on from suffering his cardiac arrest, Lockyer returned to football with Bristol Rovers.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

In 2021, mid-match at the European Championships, Eriksen had a cardiac arrest - when blood stops pumping around the body.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

He went into cardiac arrest while at the hospital and required three rounds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

Chance of cardiac arrest; be better, he reflected, if I lived in town where those buildings have a doctor standing by with those electro-spark machines.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick