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Glite Dictionary
mm Hg

mm Hg

1 3.9
A measure of pressure used for blood and air, based on mercury height
  • noun
  • /ɛm ɛm eɪtʃ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mm Hg
  • There is about an 80% increase in stroke risk with every 10 mm Hg increase in the usual DBP.
  • blood pressure in mm Hg
  • systolic mm Hg
  • diastolic mm Hg

Examples

  • Treatment thresholds for ambulatory or home monitoring are 135/85 mmHg with end-organ damage, or 150/95 mmHg without.

    Academic text (2012)

  • A pressure of 15 mm Hg, as found in fetal lambs, is more likely to be sufficient.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Effect of Heating on Skin Blood Flow during Control (3.7 mmHg) Surface Pressure

    Academic text (1999)

  • Mrs. McKay's blood pressure is, indeed, high (170/100 mm Hg), and this is the third time it has been raised.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The British Hypertension Society recommends a target of 140/85 mmHg for patients who already have CHD.

    Academic text (2012)

  • If systolic blood pressure was above 180 mm Hg, 1 mg intravenous glyceryl trinitrate was administered.

    Academic text (2000)

  • A blood pressure reading of 120/80 mm Hg is often considered normal for adults.

  • For accurate results, the cuff should be positioned at heart level when measuring pressure in mm Hg.

  • During the test, my doctor noted that my systolic pressure reached 140 mm Hg.

Synonyms

millimeter of mercury
vsmm Hg
  • Specialized
1 5.0

A unit for measuring pressure used for blood pressure and barometers

is the common label used in medicine and weather measurements
torr
vsmm Hg
  • Specialized
1 7.6

A unit for measuring pressure equal to 1/760 of the air pressure at sea level

is nearly the same but appears often in medical blood pressure readings

Surface Forms

mm Hg singular
mm Hgs plural

Morphology

mm + Hg

The form literally expands to 'millimeters of mercury' from 'mm' (millimetre) + 'Hg' (mercury), so there is a clear compositional relation. However, knowing that this convention denotes a unit of pressure (used in medicine/meteorology) is specialized domain knowledge and the chemical symbol 'Hg' or the pressure interpretation may not be obvious to an average B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Mm Hg comes from a simple picture of old glass tubes filled with mercury. Hg is the symbol for mercury and mm means millimetres; the mercury moves up a number of millimetres when air or blood pushes, so mm Hg measures how strong that 'pressure' is.