tongue depressor
4
4.0
- noun
- /ˈtʌŋ dɪˌprɛsər/
- Specialized
:
depresor de lengua
- You can see the tongue depressor on the table next to the medical supplies.
- a wooden tongue depressor
So instead of that, what I like to use is the senior tongue depressors by Dynamics.
- So instead of that, what I like to use is the senior tongue depressors by Dynamics.
Examples
-
It was suspected that the infection had been contracted through the use of a wooden tongue depressor during an oral examination.
Academic text (2008) -
The nurse used a tongue depressor to examine the patient's throat.
-
I need a tongue depressor about this big.
-
At this moment, Joan is checking a child's throat with a tongue depressor.
Fiction book (1992) -
He probed Eddie's mouth with a tongue depressor.
Fiction book (1990) -
We present this case report in the hope that it will discourage clinicians from using wooden tongue depressors in vulnerable infants.
Academic text (2008) -
During the check-up, the doctor handed me a tongue depressor to help with the examination.
Synonyms
4
8.5
A flat stick used to press down the tongue during a mouth exam
How Complex
- Specialized
- Specialized
2
5.3
2
3.9
- Specialized
24
3.5
- Specialized
71
4.2
- Specialized
4
4.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: a 'depressor' is an instrument for pressing down and 'tongue' names the body part, so a 'tongue depressor' is plainly an instrument for pressing down the tongue. This straightforward noun+noun compound follows common English medical naming patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Tongue depressor is the thin, flat stick doctors use to press the tongue down so they can look inside the mouth and throat. The word depressor means 'something that presses down', so the name simply describes its job: to 'press down' the tongue for a doctor to 'examine'.