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persistent vegetative state

British  

noun

  1.  PVSmed an irreversible condition, resulting from brain damage, characterized by lack of consciousness, thought, and feeling, although reflex activities (such as breathing) continue

"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

Example Sentences

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Schiavo was considered by doctors to be in a persistent vegetative state after her brain was deprived of oxygen.

From Slate Dec. 8, 2025

Now 39, her injuries have left her in a persistent vegetative state from which she will never recover, the court heard.

From BBC Feb. 14, 2024

In 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state, could be disconnected from her respirator.

From Washington Times Mar. 31, 2021

In his new novel, “Oliver Loving,” Stefan Merrill Block explores what happens to a family, and a small Texas town, after a young man winds up in a persistent vegetative state.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 20, 2018

The case echoes the one of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was left in a persistent vegetative state after a cardiac arrest and was also the subject of a court battle.

From Seattle Times Jul. 3, 2017

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