noun
cataract
KAT-uh-rakt/ˈkætərækt/
Clouding of the eye’s lens that impairs vision.
The eye examination reveals a cataract clouding the patient's lens.
Etymology
Latin cataracta also meant a portcullis, a gate that blocks an entrance. This barrier sense probably gave rise to the eye-disease meaning through the idea of an obstruction to sight.
In context
can all of a sudden change your vision in one eye but there is one type of cataract that can have that effect there's a cataract called a posterior subcapsular cataract
More examples
- Her cataract makes distant signs harder to read.
- The surgeon discusses removing the cataract.
- The photograph shows the cloudiness caused by cataracts.
Forms
cataract · cataracts