physical therapy

noun

|Updated on: 17 Aug 2018

Definition of physical therapy

: therapy for the preservation, enhancement, or restoration of movement and physical function impaired or threatened by disease, injury, or disability that utilizes therapeutic exercise, physical modalities (such as massage and electrotherapy), assistive devices, and patient education and training — called also physiotherapy

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physical therapist

noun

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Recent Examples of physical therapy from the Web

Maya practices her exercises daily for physical therapy.

— deasia paige, Detroit Free Press, "This Michigan girl, 4, with cerebral palsy just took her first steps," 6 July 2018
Allyse Johnson graduated with a doctorate of physical therapy.

— michelle mullins, Naperville Sun, "Naperville People in the News," 29 June 2018
Family friends at Body Max Fitness in Merrillville have helped with physical therapy at the gym.

— becky jacobs, Post-Tribune, "Event to benefit Highland police officer, 36, who suffered a stroke," 19 June 2018
Hospitals in Puerto Rico are operating, but getting specialized care like the physical therapy Benitez needs is more complicated, said Frank Velez, a commander with the Chicago Fire Department who helped get Benitez to Chicago.

— elvia malagon, chicagotribune.com, "Friends bring famed, ailing Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benitez to Chicago for medical help," 18 June 2018
VRHealth wants to use this technology for physical therapy.

— peter krouse, cleveland.com, "A dozen companies selected for Plug and Play Cleveland accelerator," 9 Mar. 2018
On Friday, huddles of Northwestern students studying physical therapy and engineering tested the cars’ speeds, took measurements and mapped out the necessary modifications.

— tessa weinberg, chicagotribune.com, "Northwestern students give 'freedom' by retrofitting motorized cars for kids with disabilities," 1 July 2018
Here are the two largest add-back allocations each supervisor made for the next two fiscal years: • District One (Sandra Lee Fewer): $120,000 to expand physical therapy and support services for seniors and $110,000 to support small businesses.

— dominic fracassa, SFChronicle.com, "SF supervisors get to spread some money around their districts," 28 June 2018
Physicians can then take steps to address these vulnerabilities such as prescribing physical therapy for an older patient with muscle weakness or ordering a nutritional consultation for someone who has become malnourished.

— judith graham, Washington Post, "Geriatric Assessments Could Fine-Tune Cancer Care For Older Adults," 28 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'physical therapy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of physical therapy

1919

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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