cath

1 of 4

noun

ˈkath 

plural caths

: catheterization

especially : cardiac catheterization

… four or five low-risk caths could easily be done each day.

—David Guo

—often used before another noun

Twenty minutes later, she was in the heart cath room where Drs. Maddox and Bronson spent the next two hours delicately pushing 3 stents into an artery …

—Roger Aiken

cath

2 of 4

verb

cathed; cathing

transitive verb

: to insert a catheter into (a patient) : to perform a catheterization procedure on (a patient)

… the nurse soon returned and said she had tried to cath the woman but couldn't find her urethra …

—Charles Hagen

cath

3 of 4

abbreviation

1

cathartic

2

cathedral

3

catheter

4

cathode

cath-

4 of 4

prefix

see cata-

Examples of cath in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With the expansion, AGH now operates three cath labs, three EP labs, two multiprocedural rooms and a hybrid surgical suite that can be used for either cath or EP procedures. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 30 June 2026

In his telling the friction is upstream of the cath lab, not at it. — Dr. Tal Patalon, Forbes.com, 3 June 2026

Plans are currently in the works to renovate the hospital’s second cath lab, too. — Michelle Marchante july 23, Miami Herald, 23 July 2025

Within minutes of arriving at the emergency room, I was wheeled into the hospital's cath lab, where a cardiac team prepared to perform an emergency angioplasty. — Donna Blass, Health, 4 Aug. 2023

In the cath lab, staff darted around the room, shaving parts of me that shouldn’t be shaved, inserting a catheter in an artery and injecting a dye to detect blockages on a screen. — Ken Budd, Anchorage Daily News, 12 June 2023

Girn went back to the cardiac cath room and gathered his team, including the attending cardiologist, Enrique Ostrzega, for a brief conference. — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1976, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1980, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

cath

1 of 3 noun

ˈkath 

: catheterization

especially : cardiac catheterization

A routine catheterization takes no more than an hour. Allowing for preparation and cleanup time, that means four or five low-risk caths could easily be done each day.

—David Guo, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

—often used before another noun

a cath lab

cath

2 of 3 transitive verb

: to insert a catheter into : subject to catheterization

… the nurse soon returned and said she had tried to cath the woman but couldn't find her urethra …

—Charles Hagen, in Emergency!: True Stories from the Nation's ERs

cath

3 of 3 abbreviation

1

cathartic

2

catheter

3

cathode