Meaning & use
turbinate
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnicalmedical
One of the small curled bones inside the nose that warm and filter the air you breathe.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a turbinate' or 'the turbinates' when talking about more than one.
Patterns
- a turbinate
- the nasal turbinates
- enlarged turbinates
The doctor explained that swollen turbinates can make it hard to breathe through the nose.
Surgery to shrink the turbinates is sometimes done when medication does not help.
Each side of the nose contains several turbinates.
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Shaped like a small spinning top or cone, with a rounded top and a point at the bottom.
Grammar: Used before a noun in technical descriptions: 'a turbinate shell'. It has no comparative form.
Patterns
- a turbinate shell
- turbinate shape
The snail has a turbinate shell that spirals to a point.
Botanists describe the seed pod as turbinate because it is wider at the top than at the base.
Word forms
| plural | turbinates |
|---|
Common combinations
- nasal turbinate
- The nasal turbinate helps humidify the air before it reaches the lungs.
- enlarged turbinates
- Allergies can lead to enlarged turbinates and a blocked nose.
- turbinate bone
- The turbinate bone is fragile and can be damaged during surgery.
- turbinate reduction
- Turbinate reduction is a common procedure for people with chronic nasal obstruction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- concha
- A more formal anatomical term for the same structure; 'turbinate' is the everyday clinical word.
- nasal concha
- The full technical name; it is used in textbooks, while 'turbinate' is shorter and more common in speech.
Word family
- turbinated adjective
- Having a spiral or top-like shape; a less common variant of the adjective 'turbinate'.
Commonly confused: turbinate or turbine? turbinate or turbid?
turbinate vs turbine
A turbine is an engine that spins to produce power; turbinate refers to a small bone in the nose or a top-like shape. They sound similar but are completely different.
turbinate vs turbid
Turbid means cloudy or muddy, especially of water. It looks similar but has no connection to the nose or to shapes.
Practice
A patient complains of a blocked nose. Which sentence uses 'turbinate' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Turbinates are small bones in the nose, so they can swell and block airflow: 'Swollen turbinates can cause nasal congestion' is correct. The other options describe a muscle, a medicine, or the heart, none of which match the meaning of 'turbinate'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “turbinate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.