tracheotomy
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tracheotomy
Explanation
When someone can't breathe because their airway is blocked, a surgical procedure called a tracheotomy might be necessary, when a doctor makes an incision through their neck and into their windpipe. The medical term tracheotomy comes from trachea, the anatomical name for "windpipe," and the suffix -tomy, from the Greek tomia, "a cutting." In simple terms, a tracheotomy is the cutting of someone's trachea. Emergency tracheotomies are commonly performed when a person has choked on an object that becomes wedged in their airway. A successful tracheotomy allows the person to breathe again, until the object can be removed.
Vocabulary lists containing tracheotomy
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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.
Ms Phillips cannot fly currently, as she is on full ventilation - but after her tracheotomy, she could be able to fly home by air ambulance, her family have been told.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
He had a tracheotomy operation, affecting his voice and making it difficult to speak.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2025
He felt this technique would be far less disruptive to the person's life than either constantly being tired during the day or, as a last resort, punching a hole in their throat with a tracheotomy.
From Salon • Oct. 23, 2023
A 3-year-old girl had a tracheotomy to help her breathe.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 2, 2023
Gus and Helen Panos were there and, because it was a funeral, Gus’s tracheotomy made his voice sound even more like the voice of death.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
