thromboplastin

American

[throm-buh-plas-tin] / ˌθrɒm bəˈplæs tɪn /

noun

Biochemistry. a lipoprotein in the blood that converts prothrombin to thrombin.
Pharmacology. a commercial form of this substance, obtained from the brains of cattle, used chiefly as a local hemostatic and as a laboratory reagent in blood prothrombin tests.

thromboplastin British

/ ˌθrɒmbəʊˈplæstɪn /

noun

Also called: thrombokinase. any of a group of substances that are liberated from damaged blood platelets and other tissues and convert prothrombin to thrombin

"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

Etymology

Origin of thromboplastin

First recorded in 1910–15; thrombo- + -plast + -in ²

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

thromboplastin

Head trauma can cause blood clots, Narayan said, because the injury triggers the production of thromboplastin, a blood protein that causes the blood to clot.

From Reuters ● Jan. 1, 2013

In the next column in discussing hemophilia, notice you have a mistake in spelling "thromboplastin."

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023