cervical smear
- noun
- /ˈsɜrvɪkəl smɪr/
- UK
:
prueba de Papanicolaou
- The health clinic provides free cervical smear tests to help detect any early signs of abnormal cell changes.
Examples
-
To put things into perspective, you would need to do 1,040 cervical smear tests to save one person's life!
Academic text (2014) -
The study of abnormal cells in body fluids, smears, and tissue samples, for example, cervical smears for the detection of changes in the cervix that could lead to cancer.
Academic text (2012) -
During her annual check-up, the doctor recommended that she get a cervical smear to ensure her health was optimal.
-
Many countries encourage women to schedule regular cervical smear tests as part of preventive healthcare.
Synonyms
12
4.3
A medical test in which a doctor takes cells from a woman's cervix to check for signs of cancer
3
3.7
A medical test that takes cells from the cervix to check for cancer or early changes
1
3.7
A medical test that checks cells from a woman's cervix for signs of cancer or other problems
A health test that checks cells from the cervix for early signs of cancer
A test that collects cells from the opening of a woman's womb to look for early cancer
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a medical test taking a sample from the cervix' is directly and compositionally derived from 'cervical' (relating to the cervix) + 'smear' (a specimen spread on a slide). Although 'smear' in the medical sense is somewhat technical, the combined phrase clearly indicates a sample/test from the cervix, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Cervical smear comes from two parts: cervical meaning the 'cervix', the lower part of the womb, and smear meaning to spread cells on a glass slide to look at them closely. So, the phrase describes the test where doctors collect and check cells to find early problems.