Meaning & use
biopsy
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablemedical
A medical test in which a small piece of tissue is removed from the body and examined in a laboratory.
Grammar: Countable: a biopsy, two biopsies.
Patterns
- perform a biopsy
- take a biopsy
- a biopsy of something
- a biopsy on someone
The doctor performed a biopsy to check whether the growth was cancerous.
A biopsy of the liver showed no signs of disease.
She had a biopsy taken from her arm during the visit.
verbtransitivemedical
To remove a small sample of tissue from a patient in order to examine it for disease.
Grammar: Takes an object: biopsy a lymph node.
Patterns
- biopsy something
- biopsy a patient
The surgeon biopsied the lump to determine its nature.
They biopsied the tissue during the procedure.
Word forms
| plural | biopsies |
|---|---|
| third person singular | biopsies |
| past tense | biopsied |
| past participle | biopsied |
| -ing form | biopsying |
Common combinations
- take a biopsy
- The doctor decided to take a biopsy from the suspicious area.
- perform a biopsy
- The specialist performed a biopsy to get a clear diagnosis.
- biopsy sample
- The biopsy sample was sent to the lab for analysis.
- biopsy result
- We are still waiting for the biopsy result.
- needle biopsy
- A needle biopsy is less invasive than surgery.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tissue sample
- This is a general term for the material removed, while biopsy refers to the whole procedure or the sample itself.
Word family
- biopsied adjective
- Describing tissue that has been removed and examined.
Commonly confused: biopsy or autopsy?
biopsy vs autopsy
An autopsy is an examination of a dead body to find the cause of death, while a biopsy is done on a living patient.
Practice
The doctor decided to ___ the lymph node to check for cancer.
Choose one answer.
After 'to', we need the base form of the verb, so 'biopsy' is correct. 'Biopsied' is past tense, 'biopsies' is third person singular, and 'biopsying' is the -ing form, none of which fit after 'to'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “biopsy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.