root canal
17
3.5
- noun
- /ˈruːt ˈkænəl/
- Specialized
:
conducto radicular
- I have an appointment for a root canal tomorrow afternoon.
- need a root canal
- root canal surgery
- perform a root canal
Examples
-
"We'll need a root canal to save that abscessed molar," he said.
Fiction book (2000) -
"About as much as I look forward to having a root canal," she told him.
Fiction book (2000) -
We need to do a root canal.
-
Oh, uh, my wife had a root canal.
-
This one is a root canal job.
-
My father had a root canal done on his front left tooth.
-
Sue had a root canal after work.
Fiction book (1999) -
The rock had damaged a tooth, and there was some question over who would pay for the subsequent root canal.
Fiction book (2002) -
In 2007, I started having a bad toothache and needed a root canal.
Blog text (18) -
My father had to undergo a root canal on his front left tooth to relieve his pain.
How Invasive
- Specialized
2
3.8
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
3.6
- Specialized
17
3.5
- Specialized
14
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term denotes a literal anatomical passage in the root of a tooth and its meaning is directly compositional from 'root' (base of the tooth) + 'canal' (a passage). A B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer this medical sense, as it follows normal noun + noun composition and is cross-linguistically transparent.
Etymology
Root canal names the small channel inside the tooth root where nerves and blood vessels run. Dentists clean this canal when it is infected, so today the words mean both the inner channel and the dental 'treatment' to fix it.