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general anesthesia

general anesthesia

10 3.9
A medicine that makes someone completely unconscious so they do not feel pain during major surgery
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnərəl ænəsˈθiːziə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : anestesia general
  • You will be put under general anesthesia before the surgery begins to ensure you feel no pain.
  • patients under general anesthesia
  • performed under general anesthesia
  • surgery under general anesthesia

Before us was a cat under general anaesthesia, with an array of electrodes carefully inserted into its visual cortex.

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Examples

  • She was put on the operating room table and immediately put under general anesthesia.

  • All operations were performed via a closed approach under general anesthesia with the same surgical instruments.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The operation requires a stay of five days, and it is done under general anesthesia.

  • Historically, diagnosis has been performed in the operating room with the patient under general anesthesia.

    Academic text (2006)
  • You'll be taken to the operating room and put under general anesthesia.

  • The operation is performed with the patient under general anesthesia in the supine position and with the head turned.

    Academic text (2004)
  • A single surgeon performed the procedure under general anesthesia with a tourniquet.

    Academic text (2015)
  • You're going to have a cesarean section under general anesthesia.

  • All patients were operated on under general anesthesia in the lithotomy position with urinary catheterization.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The patient was scheduled for temporal craniotomy and mastoid surgery under general anesthesia.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

inhalation anesthesia
vsgeneral anesthesia
  • Specialized
5.1

A general medicine that doctors give as a gas you breathe to make you sleep during surgery

is a broader medically induced complete unconsciousness used for major surgery

How Extensive

general anesthesia
  • Specialized
10 3.9
regional anesthesia
  • Specialized
4.1
local anesthesia
  • Specialized
3 4.4
topical anesthesia
  • Specialized
4.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

general + anesthesia

The meaning is directly compositional: 'anesthesia' denotes induced loss of sensation and 'general' signals that this effect is widespread/affects the whole body, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to whole-body or complete unconsciousness used in surgery. This pattern (general vs. local/regional anesthesia) is cross-linguistically common, making the term predictable for B1 learners.

Etymology

The term general anesthesia comes from the words general, meaning 'for the whole body', and anesthesia, meaning 'no feeling'. So doctors give medicine to make the patient unconscious and 'feel no pain' during major surgery.