Meaning & use
cardiovascular
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedicaltechnical
Relating to the heart and the blood vessels that carry blood around the body.
Grammar: Used before a noun: cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular system. It is not gradable (you do not say 'more cardiovascular').
Patterns
- cardiovascular disease
- cardiovascular health
- the cardiovascular system
Regular exercise lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The study examined how diet affects cardiovascular health in older adults.
Smoking damages the cardiovascular system in several ways.
adjectivebefore a nounsportinformal
Involving exercise that makes the heart and lungs work harder, especially to improve fitness.
Grammar: Used before a noun in fitness contexts: cardiovascular exercise, cardiovascular training.
Patterns
- cardiovascular exercise
- cardiovascular training
- cardiovascular workout
Runners do cardiovascular training to build stamina.
Swimming is excellent cardiovascular exercise because it works the whole body.
She added twenty minutes of cardiovascular work to her gym routine.
Common combinations
- cardiovascular disease
- Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide.
- cardiovascular health
- Eating less salt can improve cardiovascular health.
- the cardiovascular system
- The cardiovascular system includes the heart and all the blood vessels.
- cardiovascular exercise
- Cycling is good cardiovascular exercise.
- cardiovascular risk
- High blood pressure increases cardiovascular risk.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cardiac
- Cardiac relates mainly to the heart itself; cardiovascular covers both the heart and the blood vessels.
- circulatory
- Circulatory refers to the whole circulation of blood; cardiovascular is the more common medical term for the heart-and-vessel system.
- aerobic
- Aerobic describes exercise that uses oxygen and is often used in fitness; cardiovascular can describe both medical and fitness contexts.
Word family
- cardiology noun
- The medical study of the heart.
- cardiologist noun
- A doctor who treats heart conditions.
- cardiac adjective
- Relating to the heart.
- vascular adjective
- Relating to blood vessels.
Commonly confused: cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary? cardiovascular or cerebrovascular?
cardiovascular vs cardiopulmonary
Cardiopulmonary relates to the heart and lungs; cardiovascular relates to the heart and blood vessels.
cardiovascular vs cerebrovascular
Cerebrovascular relates to the brain and its blood vessels; cardiovascular relates to the heart and blood vessels.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'cardiovascular' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Cardiovascular' is an adjective describing the heart and blood vessels, so it fits before 'system'. Options 1, 3, and 4 treat it as a noun, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cardiovascular”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.