catheter

noun

cath·​e·​ter ˈka-thə-tər 

ˈkath-tər

: a tubular medical device for insertion into canals, vessels, passageways, or body cavities usually to permit injection or withdrawal of fluids or to keep a passage open compare balloon catheter

Examples of catheter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, doctors use a long, thin tube (called a catheter) threaded through a blood vessel in your arm, leg, or groin. —Ruth Jessen Hickman, Health, 23 July 2025

Doctors insert a catheter into the bladder to bathe the organ in chemotherapy drugs—but this medication gets flushed out every time the patient urinates, and side effects are common as the drugs end up getting in healthy tissue as well as the target tumors. —Health Reporter, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025

Existing thrombectomy methods, which involve aspirating clots via a catheter or trying to grab and remove them through a stent, are not designed primarily to reduce the size of blood clots. —Ani Freedman, Fortune, 27 June 2025

During an ablation, a cardiac electrophysiologist snakes a catheter through a vein or artery, usually in the groin or the wrist, to get to the heart. —Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin, from Greek kathetēr, from kathienai to send down, from kata- cata- + hienai to send — more at jet

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing catheter

• balloon catheter
• Foley catheter

Medical Definition

catheter

noun

cath·​e·​ter ˈkath-ət-ər, ˈkath-tər 

: a tubular medical device for insertion into canals, vessels, passageways, or body cavities for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes (as to permit injection or withdrawal of fluids or to keep a passage open)