SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Medical Dictionary

carboxyhemoglobin

noun car·boxy·he·mo·glo·bin

variants: or chiefly British

carboxyhaemoglobin

\(ˌ)kär-ˌbäk-sē-ˈhē-mə-ˌglō-bən\play

Medical Definition of carboxyhemoglobin

: a very stable combination of hemoglobin and carbon monoxide formed in the blood when carbon monoxide is inhaled with resulting loss of ability of the blood to combine with oxygen

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up carboxyhemoglobin? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

oppugn

play

to fight against or to call in question

Words at Play

Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435

How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face

Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Food Words for Strong Flavors

A tasting menu of vivid flavor descriptions

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz

Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz

True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game