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

See Examples For:

cardiac arrest

Kim made her first public appearance since suffering from the cardiac arrest in July 2024, when she attended the Bills’ training camp practice alongside her husband.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

NBC News reported that emergency services responded to a call for "cardiac arrest" at Graham's Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC and other outlets.

From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026

In that clip from June 14, the possibility of paramedics performed CPR on an unnamed person experiencing cardiac arrest.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

The global superstar dubbed the King of Pop suffered a fatal cardiac arrest, which was later ruled a homicide.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Alberta went into cardiac arrest and died two hours later.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander