Heimlich maneuver

American  

[hahym-lik] / ˈhaɪm lɪk /

noun

1. an emergency rescue procedure for application to someone choking on a foreign object, in which the rescuer places a fist between the victim's lower ribs or upper abdomen from behind and exerts sudden pressure in the form of thrusts of sufficient force to help eject the object from the windpipe.

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Etymology

Origin of Heimlich maneuver

An Americanism first recorded in 1970–75; named after H. J. Heimlich (1920–2016), U.S. physician, who devised it

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Heimlich maneuver

Simplicity, studies, shrewd promotion by its inventor—and a demonstration on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson—made the Heimlich maneuver a go-to method.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Performing abdominal thrusts or the Heimlich maneuver can force the item out of the body.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

Perhaps most famously, he publicized the Heimlich maneuver, the lifesaving procedure developed by Dr. Henry J. Heimlich in the 1970s that employs a bear hug and abdominal thrusts to clear food lodged in the throat.

From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2023

Todd Covington, a firefighter from Kansas City, heard others crying for help and jumped over two rows of seats in Section 113 to start performing the Heimlich maneuver.

From Washington Times ● May 25, 2023

Hazel accidentally gave herself the Heimlich maneuver with the pommel of her sword and curled on the deck, moaning and coughing up the taste of katobleps poison.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan