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Medicine vocabulary · Diagnosis and Tests

Blood test

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈblʌd test/nounCore term

In medicine, blood test means: A laboratory check of a blood sample, taken from a vein or a fingertip, to measure things like blood cells, sugar, salts or markers of infection.

In Turkish: kan tahlili, kan testi

How it is used

Doctors order, request or send blood tests and then chase the results. On UK wards people simply say 'bloods': 'Have the bloods come back?' Taking the sample is called drawing blood or venepuncture.

Example sentences

  1. I'll order some blood tests to check your kidneys and thyroid.

  2. His blood tests showed a raised white cell count.

Common collocations

  • order a blood test
  • routine blood tests
  • blood test results
  • repeat the bloods
  • complete blood countA common blood test that measures the red cells, white cells, hemoglobin and platelets in a blood sample.
  • investigationA test or examination, such as a blood test or a scan, done to find the cause of a patient's problem or to check their condition.
  • diagnosisThe decision about which disease or condition is causing a patient's problems, reached after taking a history, examining the patient and doing tests.
  • rule outTo show with a history, an examination or a test that a patient does not have a particular disease, so it can be removed from the list of possibilities.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Diagnosis and Tests

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.