Meaning & use
Bougies
Last updated
Slender, flexible surgical instruments used to examine or dilate body passages such as the esophagus or urethra.
See it in a sentence
The surgeon used a series of bougies to gradually widen the narrowed esophagus.
Doctors keep bougies of increasing diameter on hand for dilation procedures.
A note on using this word
The word comes from the French 'bougie,' meaning candle, referencing the wax-coated instruments originally used for this purpose; unrelated to the informal slang adjective 'bougie,' meaning pretentiously upscale.
Words with a similar meaning
dilators
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