Skip to main content
bloodstream

bloodstream

79 2.8
The flow of blood through the body's vessels
  • noun
  • /ˈblʌdˌstrim/
translation icon : torrente sanguíneo
  • You do not require insulin to move blood glucose out of the bloodstream into skeletal muscle tissue.
  • a bloodstream infection
  • enter the bloodstream
  • absorbed into the bloodstream

And that just gets in your bloodstream and it slowly kills you.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Bacteria from external or local sources enter the bloodstream, causing bacteremia.

    Academic text (2017)
  • We don't want glucose, you know, floating around in our bloodstream, right?

  • Blood glucose is normal, healthy in the bloodstream at normal levels.

    ZOE
  • Three of the four who died before diagnosis had bloodstream infections.

    Academic text (2013)
  • You can't get blood sugar from your bloodstream into your cells.

  • At this stage, there is an increase in the number of parasites in the bloodstream.

    Academic text (2016)
  • If you take a person and you add some testosterone to their bloodstream, they become more reactive.

  • It's all about chemical messengers travelling through the bloodstream, OK, Hormones in the blood.

  • Avery's injuries were far beyond anything the nanodocs flowing through her bloodstream could repair.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • After two weeks, bacteria in their bloodstream had decreased by about 70 percent.

Synonyms

blood
vsbloodstream
1.0

The red liquid that flows in the body and carries oxygen and nutrients

means that red fluid when it is moving through vessels rather than static
circulation
vsbloodstream
  • Specialized
28 3.7

The movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels

is the moving red fluid rather than the general fluid movement
circulatory system
vsbloodstream
  • Specialized
6 3.3

Organs and blood vessels, including the heart, that move blood and a clear fluid called lymph around the body

refers to the moving red fluid not the organs that move it
cardiovascular system
vsbloodstream
  • Specialized
4 3.5

System of the heart and blood vessels that moves blood around the body

means the moving red fluid itself rather than those organs
blood circulation
vsbloodstream
  • Specialized
3 2.8

Continuous movement of blood through the body that carries oxygen and food to cells

refers to the moving red fluid itself rather than the movement

Surface Forms

bloodstream singular
bloodstreams plural

Morphology

bloodstream = blood + stream (transparent) = blood + stream

The meaning ('flow of blood through the body's vessels') is directly derivable from 'blood' + 'stream' using common metaphorical extension of 'stream' = flow.

Etymology

Bloodstream comes from the two simple words blood and stream, where stream means 'a small river'. Think of it as a little river of blood moving through the body's veins and arteries, which is why bloodstream means the blood as it flows through the body.