clot buster

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   A drug that dissolves blood clots, used quickly after a stroke or heart attack to restore blood flow.

   Grammar: Countable: a clot buster, new clot busters.

   Patterns

   • a clot buster for something

   Doctors gave her a clot buster within an hour of the stroke.

   The hospital keeps a clot buster ready in the emergency room.

   A clot buster works best if it is given soon after symptoms start.

Word forms

Common combinations

give a clot buster

Paramedics cannot give a clot buster, but the hospital can.

clot-busting drug

A clot-busting drug saved his life.

administer a clot buster

Doctors administered a clot buster to dissolve the blockage.

clot buster treatment

Clot buster treatment must start within hours.

Synonyms and how they differ

thrombolytic

Thrombolytic is the formal medical term, whereas clot buster is plain and informal.

blood thinner

A blood thinner prevents clots from forming but does not dissolve existing ones the way a clot buster does.

anticoagulant

An anticoagulant slows clotting over time and is a different kind of drug from a quick-acting clot buster.

Word family

clot noun

a lump of blood that has thickened

clot verb

to form into a lump or mass

buster noun

something that breaks or destroys

clotting noun

the process of blood thickening

Commonly confused: clot buster or blood thinner?

Practice

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