wet lung
- noun
- /wɛt lʌŋ/
- Specialized
:
pulmón húmedo
- He was diagnosed with wet lung after working in the factory without proper ventilation.
You, you hear news stories about popcorn lung, wet lung, pneumonia, all this stuff.
- You, you hear news stories about popcorn lung, wet lung, pneumonia, all this stuff.
Examples
-
Exposure to chemical vapors can lead to wet lung, which causes severe breathing difficulties.
-
You, you hear news stories about popcorn lung, wet lung, pneumonia, all this stuff.
-
Symptoms of wet lung include persistent coughing and shortness of breath due to fluid in the lungs.
Synonyms
1
7.4
A serious illness in which the lungs are damaged and fill with fluid so oxygen cannot reach the blood
1
8.3
A severe lung condition that makes it hard to get enough oxygen to the body
1
6.0
Fluid or blood that builds up in the lungs and makes breathing hard
Severe lung damage from breathing harmful gases like chlorine or ammonia that makes lungs stiff and stops them working well
How Severe
- Archaic
1
7.4
- Specialized
- Specialized
121
4.3
- Specialized
1
6.0
- Specialized
1
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning — a lung that is wet or filled with fluid causing breathing problems — is directly built from 'wet' (soaked by liquid) + 'lung' (the chest organ), so the condition's basic concept is compositional. A B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer a lung-related problem involving fluid and difficulty breathing, even if they lack medical detail.
Etymology
Wet lung comes from the image of the lung becoming wet, like a sponge soaked with water after breathing chemical fumes. That's why it now means 'a serious condition with swelling and fluid in the lungs that makes it hard to breathe'.