Catheterises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To introduce a hollow tube into a bodily cavity or vessel to facilitate the movement of fluids for therapeutic reasons
2. To employ a flexible tube into an organ or vessel to allow for the injection or removal of substances for medical intervention
3. Passes a thin tube into a body canal or vessel to assist fluid flow or perform medical tasks

Etymology: "Catheterises" is the third-person singular form of "catheterise", a verb meaning to insert a thin tube into the body, usually the bladder. The verb is built from "catheter" and the suffix "-ise", the British spelling of the verbal ending "-ize" that turns a noun into an action, as in "hospitalise" or "computerise". The "-s" on the end simply marks the present tense for "he", "she", or "it". The noun "catheter" comes from Late Latin "catheter", borrowed from Greek "kathetér", which denotes something lowered or inserted, from "kathienai", meaning "to send down". The Greek image is literal: a device sent down a passage. Its use in medicine goes back to antiquity, so the word's sense of a hollow instrument for drawing off fluid has changed very little across two thousand years.