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Glite Dictionary
sed rate

sed rate

1 5.6
A blood test that shows how fast red blood cells settle to check for inflammation
  • noun
  • /sɛd reɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tasa de sedimentación
  • If your sed rate is elevated, it may be time to investigate potential health issues further.

You need a complete metabolic panel, you need a urinalysis, you need ACBC with differential, you need a sed rate and ACRP.

Examples

  • You need a complete metabolic panel, you need a urinalysis, you need ACBC with differential, you need a sed rate and ACRP.

    KenDBerryMD

  • "Well," I said, after considerable thought, "she's got a fever, arthralgias, and a high sed rate."

    Fiction book (1991)

  • They want a CBC, a diff, and a sed rate.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The doctor explained that a high sed rate could indicate an underlying inflammation in the body.

  • Regular testing of the sed rate can help monitor conditions like arthritis and infections.

Synonyms

ESR
vssed rate
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A blood test that measures how fast red blood cells settle in a tube to show inflammation

is the full term rather than an abbreviated form
sedimentation rate
vssed rate
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A test that measures how fast red blood cells sink in a tube to show infection or disease

focuses specifically on a blood test used to detect inflammation
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
vssed rate
  • Specialized
6.3

The speed at which red blood cells fall to the bottom of a test tube, showing inflammation

is the shorter informal phrase rather than the long scientific name

How Fast

elevated sed rate
  • Specialized
1 7.1
sed rate
  • Specialized
1 5.6

Surface Forms

sed rate singular
sed rates plural

Morphology

sed + rate

The element 'sed' is not a common lexical item but a specialist abbreviation (from 'sedimentation' or part of the technical term ESR), so a B1 learner who only knows ordinary word meanings would not recognise its contribution. While 'rate' signals a measurement, the phrase is medical jargon and conventionalized, so the full meaning cannot be derived from the apparent constituents.

Etymology

Sed rate comes from a simple image: blood in a tall tube where the red cells slowly sink to the bottom, and you measure how fast they fall — sed (short for 'sediment') is the sinking part and rate is their speed. That's why a high sed rate often means there is 'inflammation' in the body.