artificial kidney
1
4.2
- noun
- /ˌɑːrtɪˈfɪʃəl ˈkɪdni/
- Specialized
:
riñón artificial
- Sometime in the not-distant future, the doctor said, I would need dialysis—use of an artificial kidney machine—in order to stay alive.
- artificial kidney machine
Examples
-
The blood flows out into the dialyzer, which acts as an artificial kidney, filtering out excess salt, water, and chemicals before returning to the body.
-
Tomorrow, Company X invents an implantable artificial kidney.
Blog text (23) -
A patient relied on an artificial kidney machine to stay alive.
Academic text (2001) -
With hemodialysis, the kind investigated in this latest study, a filter functions as an artificial kidney to remove waste, extra chemicals, and fluid from the body.
Blog text (12) -
The blood flows out into the dialyzer, which acts as an artificial kidney, filtering out excess salt, water, and chemicals before returning to the body.
Blog text (9) -
A patient relied on an artificial kidney machine to stay alive.
Synonyms
4
3.5
A machine that removes waste and extra fluid from a person's blood when their kidneys fail
A machine that cleans a person's blood when their kidneys do not work
How Life-Supporting
- Specialized
1
4.2
- Specialized
60
5.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'artificial kidney' is compositionally transparent: 'artificial' (man-made) + 'kidney' (the filtering organ) yields the clear idea of a man-made organ or device that replaces kidney function. A B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer this general meaning (even if they might not know the technical detail of dialysis), and many languages use the same literal construction, supporting its transparency.
Etymology
Artificial kidney comes from the image of a human-made artificial device that works like a kidney by filtering blood. So it means 'a machine that replaces the kidney'.