Meaning & use
hyperalimentation
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedical
Feeding a patient with a rich liquid mixture of nutrients through a vein when they cannot eat normally.
Grammar: Has no plural; used in hospitals and medical writing.
Patterns
- hyperalimentation for someone
The surgeon ordered hyperalimentation for the patient who could not digest food.
After the operation, she received hyperalimentation for ten days.
Hyperalimentation can keep a patient alive when the bowel is not working.
Common combinations
- intravenous hyperalimentation
- Intravenous hyperalimentation supplied her with calories and protein.
- receive hyperalimentation
- He received hyperalimentation while his gut healed.
- hyperalimentation solution
- A pharmacist prepared the hyperalimentation solution.
- long-term hyperalimentation
- Long-term hyperalimentation requires careful monitoring.
Synonyms and how they differ
- parenteral nutrition
- Parenteral nutrition is the modern standard term, while hyperalimentation is an older name for the same intravenous feeding.
- IV feeding
- IV feeding is a plain, everyday phrase, while hyperalimentation is the technical term used by clinicians.
Opposites
Word family
- alimentation noun
- the act of providing food or nourishment
- alimentary adjective
- relating to food or digestion
- aliment noun
- food or nourishment, in formal or old usage
Commonly confused: hyperalimentation or hyperventilation? hyperalimentation or alimony?
hyperalimentation vs hyperventilation
Hyperventilation is abnormally fast breathing, while hyperalimentation concerns feeding with nutrients.
hyperalimentation vs alimony
Alimony is money paid to a former spouse after divorce, though it comes from the same Latin root meaning nourishment.
Practice
A patient who cannot eat is given nutrients through a vein. Which term describes this?
Choose one answer.
Hyperalimentation is intravenous feeding. The other terms are medical conditions that do not involve feeding: fast breathing, high blood pressure and low body temperature.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hyperalimentation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.