noun / verb
tourniquet
TUR-nuh-kut/ˈtɜːrnəkət/
A tight band used to restrict blood flow in a limb.
The medical worker demonstrates a tourniquet on the training mannequin's covered arm.
Etymology
French tourniquet also meant a turnstile and was formed from a verb meaning “to turn.” Early surgical devices used a screw to apply compression, connecting turning with the mechanism for stopping blood flow.
In context
Walter, make a tourniquet of your handkerchief and put it tightly on the muscles of his left arm. That may keep some of the poison in his arm from spreading
More examples
- The nurse wraps a tourniquet around my upper arm before drawing blood.
- Our emergency kit contains two tourniquets.
- The medic tourniquets the injured leg to control severe bleeding.
Forms
tourniquet · tourniquets · tourniqueted · tourniqueting
Similar words
- bandage
- Covers or supports an injury without necessarily restricting blood flow.