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
spinning top urethra
deformity of the urethra upon urination, with narrowing at the urinary meatus and dilatation at the proximal end; seen sporadically in conditions such as prolonged inflammation of the urethra and detrusor instability. Called also spinning top deformity.
Word of the Day Archive
pipestem ureter
stenosis and calcification of a ureter, seen as a complication of renal tuberculosis that has spread into the ureter.
unoprostone isopropyl
an antiglaucoma agent that decreases elevated intraocular pressure by increasing the outflow of aqueous humor; used in the treatment of open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension, applied topically to the conjunctiva.
real-time ultrasonography
a series of ultrasound images produced in rapid succession so that the video display shows motion of an organ or part.
intravascular ultrasonography
visualization of the interior of blood vessels by ultrasound; the transducer is mounted on the end of a catheter that is introduced percutaneously.
ubiquitin
a 76-amino acid polypeptide that is present in the cells of all higher animals and plants; it attaches to a protein as one step of intracellular protein breakdown.
trastuzumab
a recombinant DNA-derived humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to human growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a protein overexpressed in some breast cancers; used as an antineoplastic in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer with overexpression of HER2, administered intravenously.
reverse cholesterol transport
the process by which high-density lipoproteins (HDL) facilitate the movement of cholesterol from peripheral cells back to the liver for excretion in the bile. Cholesterol released into plasma during cell turnover is adsorbed to HDL where it is esterified by lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase; most of the cholesteryl esters then are transferred to intermediate-density or very-low-density lipoproteins by a specific transfer protein and these lipoproteins are ultimately taken up by the liver.