MEDICAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does medical mean? 

• MEDICAL (noun)
  The noun MEDICAL has 1 sense:

1. a thorough physical examination; includes a variety of tests depending on the age and sex and health of the person

  Familiarity information: MEDICAL used as a noun is very rare.

• MEDICAL (adjective)
  The adjective MEDICAL has 3 senses:

1. relating to the study or practice of medicine

2. requiring or amenable to treatment by medicine especially as opposed to surgery

3. of or belonging to Aesculapius or the healing art

  Familiarity information: MEDICAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MEDICAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A thorough physical examination; includes a variety of tests depending on the age and sex and health of the person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

checkup; health check; medical; medical checkup; medical exam; medical examination

Hypernyms ("medical" is a kind of...):

examination; scrutiny (the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes))

Meronyms (parts of "medical"):

ballistocardiogram (a graphical recording made by a ballistocardiograph)

cardiogram; ECG; EKG; electrocardiogram (a graphical recording of the cardiac cycle produced by an electrocardiograph)

Derivation:

medical (relating to the study or practice of medicine)

• MEDICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to the study or practice of medicine

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

medical school

Pertainym:

medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Derivation:

medical (a thorough physical examination; includes a variety of tests depending on the age and sex and health of the person)

medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Requiring or amenable to treatment by medicine especially as opposed to surgery

Context example:

pneumonia is a medical disease

Antonym:

surgical (relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine)

Derivation:

medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of or belonging to Aesculapius or the healing art

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

aesculapian; medical

Derivation:

medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

 Context examples 

A medical system that has been used for thousands of years to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease.

(Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, NCI Dictionary)

Insights from her research also could have important applications for biology, ultimately leading to possible future medical treatments, because disordered cells also exist in tissues, in developing embryos and in certain cancers.

(Materials, like metallic glass, can help us understand how cells break, NSF)

You should get immediate medical attention and may need surgery.

(Adhesions, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

What kind of medical care would you want if you were too ill or hurt to express your wishes?

(Advance Directives, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

This new moon is the perfect time to have medical and dental tests and procedures.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Migraines are a common medical condition among youth and adults, affecting 12 percent of people ages 12 and older.

(Innovative Treatment Offers Relief to Children with Frequent Migraine Headaches, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A classification of the medical history.

(Medical History Category, NCI Thesaurus)

The date and time a medical history was collected.

(Medical History Data Collection Date Time, NCI Thesaurus)

As a medical man, you are aware, Watson, that there is no part of the body which varies so much as the human ear.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The date on which the recording of the patient medical history was finished.

(Medical History Completion Date, NCI Thesaurus)