| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| lithotripter |
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| SYLLABICATION: | lith·o·trip·ter |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  l th  -trp tr |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also lith·o·trip·tor |
| NOUN: | A device that pulverizes kidney stones and gallstones by passing shock waves through a water-filled tub in which the patient sits. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Alteration of obsolete lithotriptor, lithontriptor, from lithontriptic, breaking up kidney stones, from New Latin lithontripticus, alteration (influenced by Greek tr bein, trp-, to rub, pound) of lithonthrypticus, from Greek (pharmaka t n en nephris) lithn thruptika, (drugs) crushing stones (in the kidneys) : lithn, genitive pl. of lithos, stone + thruptika, neuter pl. of thruptikos, crushing (from thruptein, to crush; see dhreu- in Appendix I).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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