tourniquet
Americannoun
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Medicine/Medical, Surgery. any device for arresting bleeding by forcibly compressing a blood vessel, as a bandage tightened by twisting.
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a device for pulling the parts of a wooden piece of furniture together, consisting of a pair of twisted cords passed around the parts.
noun
Etymology
Origin of tourniquet
1685–95; < French, derivative of tourner to turn
Explanation
A tourniquet is a device used to control the flow of blood temporarily. If you cut your knee really badly, the doctor might put a tourniquet on your thigh before operating — to control the blood flow to your knee. A tourniquet is usually used for two purposes in medicine. In surgery, a tourniquet is used to stop the flow of blood to a limb while it is being operated on. In an emergency, a tourniquet is used to control blood loss. By compressing around the veins that bring blood to a limb, a tourniquet stops or slows the flow of blood temporarily.
Vocabulary lists containing tourniquet
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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.
Jeff Bova, who worked with the production’s transportation department, placed a tourniquet on Sonnier’s leg.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025
A passerby used a belt as a tourniquet to stop him from losing too much blood, saving his life.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Adrian applied a tourniquet and pinched shut the artery in Dan's thigh to stop him bleeding to death.
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2025
“The rope is wrapped really tightly almost like a tourniquet around its flipper.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2024
While Emily lay in obscurity on the floor, in the shadow of a sofa, with a medical uncle applying an expert tourniquet, a dozen relatives worked to calm her sister.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
