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  • chemo
    chemo
    noun
    chemotherapy or a chemotherapy treatment.
  • chemo-
    chemo-
    a combining form with the meanings “chemical,” “chemically induced,” “chemistry,” used in the formation of compound words.

chemo

1 American  
[kee-moh, kem-oh] / ˈki moʊ, ˈkɛm oʊ /

noun

Informal.
  • chemos
    plural
  1. chemotherapy or a chemotherapy treatment.


chemo- 2 American  
  1. a combining form with the meanings “chemical,” “chemically induced,” “chemistry,” used in the formation of compound words.

    chemotherapy.


chemo 1 British  
/ ˈkiːməʊ /

noun

  1. informal short for chemotherapy

"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

chemo- 2 British  

combining form

  1. indicating that chemicals or chemical reactions are involved

    chemotherapy

"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

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of chemo1

By shortening; see -o

Origin of chemo-2

chem-, extracted from chemical or chemistry + -o- or -i-


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:

In Sunny Dancer, Ramsey plays Ivy, a young female cancer survivor in remission who reluctantly heads to a "chemo camp" where she finds an unexpected group of friends and has a summer that changes her.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

AstraZeneca’s drug Datroway, in its own trial against chemotherapy, cut the same risk by 43% and extended median survival by five months compared with chemo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Having Deborah decide to prolong her life with chemo because she could not resist mining this final seam of comedic gold was a coup de grace.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

Similar damage is sometimes seen in people undergoing chemotherapy and is associated with symptoms often described as "chemo brain."

From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026

And unlike Laura, who’d had surgery and chemo and now radiation to get better, his mom hadn’t even stayed in the hospital even though she would lose him if she left.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

These high concentrations result in unique chemical reactions within cancer cells that render the cells more vulnerable to chemo- and radiation therapies.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024

Surgery cures most breast cancer - but if some disease remains, chemo-, radio- and endocrine therapy can reduce the long-term risk of dying.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2023

Chavez had previous rounds of chemo- and radiotherapy, which at times left him bald and bloated.

From Reuters ● Mar. 2, 2013

All this is presently experimental but in the few years since work began on chemo- sterilants the project has grown enormously.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

“They do that because there are certain chemos out there can make your veins turn black, and can effect your nerves.”

From Washington Times ● Sep. 21, 2020

“I didn’t even feel like I had cancer. I had to go to seven chemos and 30 radiation appointments. I drove myself to every one of them.”

From Golf Digest ● Nov. 16, 2018

‘I had to go to seven chemos and 30 radiation appointments. I drove myself to every one of them.’

From Golf Digest ● Nov. 16, 2018

Other companies are redesigning traditional chemos to make them easier to take.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2016

“I will run out of chemos to take, and I will run out of clinical trials I will qualify for.”

From Washington Times ● Mar. 19, 2016

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