vocal cord injury

1 4.1

Damage to the small parts of the throat that make sound when you speak

noun
/ˈvoʊkəl kɔrd ˈɪndʒəri/

Specialized

: lesión de las cuerdas vocales

The patient suffered a vocal cord injury after the car accident and needed speech therapy.

Examples

Prolonged shouting during the performance caused a vocal cord injury that required medical attention.
A vocal cord injury may result in hoarseness or loss of voice until it heals.
She suffered a vocal cord injury during the concert.
A vocal cord injury can be quite serious!
After her accident, she struggled with a vocal cord injury that made it hard to speak.
The doctor explained that a vocal cord injury could affect his singing voice permanently.
Due to the vocal cord injury, he communicated through text messages for several weeks.

Synonyms

chorditis

vsvocal cord injury

Specialized

9.9

Swelling and irritation of the vocal cords in the throat that makes the voice hoarse

covers any harm to voice production rather than only inflammation

How Severe

voicelessness

Specialized

1 8.3

vocal cord injury

Specialized

1 4.1

hoarseness

1 4.8

Surface Forms

vocal cord injury singular

vocal cord injuries plural

Morphology

vocal + cord + injury

The meaning is directly compositional: 'vocal' (relating to the voice) + 'cord' (a cord-like anatomical structure) + 'injury' (damage) yields 'damage to the voice-producing cords'. This is a straightforward medical noun phrase following common noun-noun composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Vocal cord injury shows a simple picture: the vocal cords are thin bands in the throat that must vibrate to make sound, and an injury means they have been hurt. So, if the vocal cords are damaged they cannot vibrate well and a person may be hoarse or 'unable to speak'.