Word Of The Day

Dorland's Word of the Day is a great way to broaden your knowledge of medical terminology. With a new and interesting term brought to you from the 32nd edition of Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary each day, it's an easy and fun way to increase your medical vocabulary!

You can view a new word on this website each day.

Today's Word

docosanol

n-docosanol, a saturated 22-carbon alcohol having antiviral activity against lipid-enveloped viruses, including herpes simplex virus, acting by inhibiting fusion between the human plasma cell membrane and the viral envelope; used topically in the treatment of recurrent herpes labialis.

Word of the Day Archive

Hutch diverticulum

herniation of bladder mucosa through a weak point in the wall near the ureterovesical junction, often caused by chronically high intravesical pressure.

pressure diuresis

increased urinary excretion of water when there is an increase of arterial pressure, a compensatory mechanism to maintain blood pressure within the normal range.

obsessive-compulsive d. (OCD)

an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent obsessions or compulsions, which are severe enough to interfere significantly with personal or social functioning. Performing compulsive rituals may release tension temporarily, and resisting them causes increased tension. This disorder is not the same as obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which is a personality disorder characterized by an emotionally constricted manner that is unduly conventional, serious, rigid, stubborn, and stingy, by preoccupation with trivial details, rules, order, organization, schedules, and lists to the extent that the major point of an activity is lost or task completion is delayed, by reluctance to delegate tasks or work cooperatively unless everything is done one's own way, and by excessive devotion to work and productivity to the detriment of interpersonal relationships

impulse control disorders

a group of mental disorders characterized by repeated failure to resist an impulse to perform some act harmful to oneself or to others. The person feels tension or an irresistible urge to perform the act which, even though ego-dystonic, gives pleasure or emotional release upon performance.

disintegrin

any of a family of proteins occurring in snake venoms and interrupting the function of integrins by blocking their interaction with surface receptors. In very low concentrations, disintegrins also inhibit platelet aggregation.

reactive airways disease

any of several conditions characterized by wheezing and allergic reactions; the most common are asthma, bronchiolitis, and chronic obstructive lung disease.

pulmonary veno-occlusive disease

an idiopathic form of primary pulmonary hypertension, usually seen in children or young adults, characterized by dyspnea and syncope, sometimes with intimal fibrosis, hemoptysis, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, and orthopnea.