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Glite Dictionary
💧 To remove liquid 💧 Emptying liquid 😩 To use up energy 🚰 A water pipe ⬇️ A slow loss 🩺 A medical tube
drain

drain

24 5.4
A tube put into the body to remove fluid after surgery
  • noun
  • /dreɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dren
  • The patient's postoperative course was complicated by an infection at the lumbar drain site, which was treated with antibiotics.
  • insert a drain
  • place a drain
  • remove a drain

Now your vein we are going to open with either a large forceps or this device called a drain tube.

Examples

  • The patient was admitted, and a lumbar drain was placed for three days.

    Academic text (2005)

  • We advocate the removal of drains on the third postoperative day.

    Academic text (2012)

  • You gonna put a drain tube down there? -

    Mars (2024)

  • Did I mention that we are having a new drain installed?

    Emma (1996)

  • Basically stitch her up again with a drain in there and go from there.

    Mars (2024)

  • The area of the abscess was drained, and a Penrose drain was left in place for a few days.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The wound is closed in layers, and a suction drain is secured in the subgaleal space.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The authors recommend the removal of suction drains on the third postoperative day.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Two small polyethylene drains were inserted adjacent to the concha and the scapha, respectively.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The nurse carefully checked the drain to ensure it was functioning properly after the surgery.

Synonyms

catheter
vsdrain
  • Specialized
64 7.4

A thin flexible tube that you put into the body to drain fluids or keep a passage open

is used specifically to remove fluid and unwanted material after surgery

Idioms

to drain the swamp
  • US
6 7.9

To remove corruption and waste from a government or company

money down the drain
  • Informal
2 4.2

Money people waste when they make a bad choice

Compounds

storm drain
18 3.0

A pipe under the street that carries away rainwater

brain drain
5 4.2

The leaving of skilled or well educated people from a country to work abroad for better jobs

drain system
1 3.2

Pipes and channels that carry away extra water from an area

drain basket
2.8

A small basket in a sink that catches food scraps while water flows through

trap-and-drain auger
  • Specialized
8.8

A tool with a long flexible wire that clears blockages in drains

stormwater drain
  • Specialized
2.7

A pipe or channel that carries rainwater away from streets and buildings

Surface Forms

drain singular
drains plural

Etymology

Drain comes from an old word for a 'channel that carries liquid away'. Just like a drainpipe takes water out of a house, a medical drain is a tube that takes unwanted fluid out of the body.