renal calculus
1
6.8
- noun
- /ˈrɛnəl ˈkælkjələs/
- Specialized
- After experiencing intense discomfort, she learned that a renal calculus was blocking her urinary tract.
Examples
-
The doctor explained that a renal calculus had formed in the patient's kidney, causing severe pain.
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Other findings on follow-up included one child with intussusception, one death which was sudden and unexplained, and one child with renal calculi.
Academic text (1991) -
I also looked forward to telling Gus, who had himself suffered from the fabled renal calculi.
Fiction book (2002) -
Radiography showed bilateral nephrocalcinosis and a right renal calculus.
Academic text (1996) -
The index patient subsequently underwent right nephrotomies and ureterotomies for renal calculi and a left nephrectomy because of pyonephrosis.
Academic text (1996) -
Pei Zhong has made outstanding contributions to the improvement and innovation of shock wave lithotripsy technology and for the characterization of the mechanical properties of renal calculi.
Academic text (2011) -
He was relieved to find out that the renal calculus detected in his CT scan was small and could be managed with medication.
Synonyms
20
3.7
A hard mass that forms in the kidney and often causes pain when you pee
1
9.6
A hard lump of mineral that forms in organs like the kidney or gallbladder
1
9.9
A hard stone that forms in the bladder or tubes that carry urine
1
7.2
A hard stone that forms in the kidney and can block urine
A hard stone that forms in the kidney
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'renal' (kidney-related) and 'calculus' (a concretion or stone), so its meaning 'stone in the kidney' is directly derivable from the constituents. It is a formal medical term (equivalent to 'kidney stone'), but given the medical senses of both words a B1 learner who knows them would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Renal calculus comes from a simple image: renal means 'of the kidney' and calculus means 'small stone'. So the name literally pictures a 'small stone' in the kidney, which is why it means a hard mass there that can cause pain or block urine.