defibrillation
Britishnoun
Explanation
When someone is having an irregular heartbeat, doctors will sometimes use a procedure called defibrillation to shock the patient's heart back into a normal rhythm. You've probably seen defibrillation in TV shows and movies. Defibrillation was invented in the 1890s by Swiss scientists, but it wasn't used on human patients until the 1930s. The word means "stopping of fibrillation," which is the medical term for when a part of the body twitches and quivers irregularly. When the heart does this, it's called ventricular fibrillation. External defibrillation — involving the paddles that EMTs and ER doctors use today — was developed in the last half of the 20th century.
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 means medical staff will not attempt chest compressions or defibrillation, where an electric shock is applied to restore normal heart rhythm, if the patient's heart or breathing stops.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
Such innovation in painless defibrillation and preventing arrhythmia could revolutionize cardiac rhythm management.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2024
After the visitors called 911 at 3:40 p.m., park rangers arrived and tried to revive the man with CPR and external defibrillation, but they were unsuccessful.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
For the few like Mr. Hamlin who receive immediate defibrillation, survival rises to 41 percent.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2023
According to the doctors, Hamlin received one defibrillation and one round of CPR while on the field.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2023
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.
