hydrotherapy

[ hahy-druh-ther-uh-pee ]

noun
  1. the branch of therapeutics that deals with the curative use of water.

  2. the treatment of physical disability, injury, or illness by immersion of all or part of the body in water to facilitate movement, promote wound healing, relieve pain, etc., usually under the supervision of a trained therapist.

Origin of hydrotherapy

1
First recorded in 1875–80; hydro-1 + therapy

Other words from hydrotherapy

  • hy·dro·ther·a·pist, noun

Words Nearby hydrotherapy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hydrotherapy in a sentence

  • Speaking of après, consider loosening up your sore muscles after a long day of skiing with a massage at the Spa at Silver Legacy where you can experience a salt inhalation chamber or a hydrotherapy soaking tub.

  • Winternitz has made hydrotherapy popular and, in a measure, effective in the management of certain maladies.

  • We have to find out by experience just how to use hydrotherapy for each individual.

    Psychotherapy | James J. Walsh
  • He spoke of hydrotherapy and gymnastic exercises, and called himself a quack.

    Atlantis | Gerhart Hauptmann
  • The application of ice in the same emergency may likewise represent a universal resort to hydrotherapy.

    A Librarian's Open Shelf | Arthur E. Bostwick

British Dictionary definitions for hydrotherapy

hydrotherapy

/ (ˌhaɪdrəʊˈθɛrəpɪ) /


noun
  1. med the treatment of certain diseases by the external use of water, esp by exercising in water in order to mobilize stiff joints or strengthen weakened muscles: Also called: water cure Compare hydropathy

Derived forms of hydrotherapy

  • hydrotherapic (ˌhaɪdrəʊθɪˈræpɪk), adjective
  • hydrotherapist, noun

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