Skip to main content
CAT scan

CAT scan

42 3.2
A medical test that makes detailed pictures of the inside of the body using X-rays
  • noun
  • /kæt skæn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : TAC
  • When they gave him a medical exam, the CAT scan picked up a thick shadow at the base of his brain.
  • CAT scan or MRI
  • Tomography or CAT scan
  • CAT scan data

I said we have scans, CAT scans, MRI scans, the new technology.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • She's got a decent concussion, but we did a CAT scan, and there's absolutely no damage to the brain.

  • It is my advice that you go to the hospital to get a CAT scan to rule out a brain bleed.

  • Got around to taking a CAT scan of the body and guess what they found?

  • We're setting up a CAT scan immediately.

  • And at that point we just have to get the CAT scan to confirm.

  • I'd like you to come in Monday morning for a CAT scan.

  • The CAT scan showed a massive bleed.

  • All the blood work was normal, the neurological tests were normal, and the CAT scan was normal.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • So I got to the emergency room and that night they took a CAT scan and they found that I had an Abscess in my liver.

  • The CAT scan revealed that there was no damage to his internal organs.

Synonyms

scan
vsCAT scan
382 3.9

An image of the inside of the body made by a medical machine

is the image produced specifically by axial computer tomography
CAT
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
189 4.6

A scan that uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of the body

is the resulting cross-sectional image rather than the procedure
CT
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
52 3.7

A medical scan that uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed images of the inside of the body

is the produced cross-sectional image rather than the test
CT scan
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
26 3.2

A medical test using X-rays and a computer to make detailed images of the inside of the body

is the image made by that test rather than the test itself
tomography
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
3 6.7

A way of making detailed pictures of the inside of the body

is the specific image made by the axial computerized technique
computed tomography
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
1 3.6

A medical scan using X-rays and a computer to make pictures of the body's inside

is the produced image, not the measuring technique
computerized tomography
vsCAT scan
  • US
1 4.1

A medical scan using X-rays and a computer to make detailed images of the inside of the body

is the resulting image rather than the scanning method
tomogram
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
1 8.4

An X-ray image that shows a thin slice through the body

is the image produced by a specific axial computer method
computed axial tomography
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
4.3

A medical scan that uses X-rays and a computer to make thin pictures of the inside of the body

is the image produced by that axial method rather than the method
computerized axial tomography
vsCAT scan
  • Specialized
4.8

A scan that uses X rays and a computer to make thin pictures of the inside of the body

is the resulting cross-sectional image rather than the process

Surface Forms

CAT scan singular
CAT scans plural

Morphology

CAT + scan

If a learner knows 'CAT' as the acronym for computerized axial tomography and 'scan' as a medical image, the compound meaning (a scan produced by CAT/CT technology) is directly derivable from the parts. The noun+noun composition follows a regular technical naming pattern (cf. 'CT scan' in other languages), so it is transparent to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

CAT scan comes from how the machine works: CAT is short for a method that takes many thin 'slices' of the body, and the machine 'scans' them into one clear 'picture'. So, CAT scan means a detailed image of the inside of the body.