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VITAL SIGN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Sign of life; usually an indicator of a person's general physical condition
Example:
he was still alive but his vital signs were weak
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("vital sign" is a kind of...):
sign ((medicine) any objective evidence of the presence of a disorder or disease)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vital sign"):
blood heat; body temperature (temperature of the body; normally 98.6 F or 37 C in humans; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health)
blood pressure (the pressure of the circulating blood against the walls of the blood vessels; results from the systole of the left ventricle of the heart; sometimes measured for a quick evaluation of a person's health)
heart rate; pulse; pulse rate (the rate at which the heart beats; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health)
rate of respiration; respiratory rate (the rate at which a person inhales and exhales; usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of a person's health)
