What does embolize mean?
"Embolize" is a medical verb describing the blockage of a blood vessel by material traveling through the bloodstream — a clot fragment, air bubble, fat globule, or injected particle. It has two related uses. Intransitively, it describes what happens pathologically: when part of a thrombus breaks loose and embolizes elsewhere, it lodges in a smaller vessel and cuts off blood flow, as in pulmonary embolism. Transitively, it names a deliberate procedure: interventional radiologists embolize specific arteries — for instance those feeding a tumor or a site of hemorrhage — by delivering coils, particles, or glue through a catheter to shut off the vessel safely. The word derives from Greek embolos, meaning "plug" or "wedge," the same root behind embolism and embolus. Almost entirely confined to clinical writing and speech, it is precise, formal vocabulary that signals expertise in vascular medicine and interventional radiology.
verbTo block or obstruct a blood vessel by means of an embolus (a clot, air bubble, fat globule, or other foreign matter) carried in the bloodstream; in medicine, also deliberately to induce such a blockage as a treatment.
- (Of an embolus or other matter in the bloodstream) to lodge in and block a blood vessel.
- (Medicine, transitive) to intentionally occlude a blood vessel, typically by injecting an embolic agent, as a therapeutic procedure.
"Surgeons decided to embolize the tumor's feeding artery to reduce bleeding before the operation."
"Fragments of the thrombus broke free and embolized in the pulmonary arteries."
"Interventional radiologists embolized the bleeding vessel using tiny coils delivered through a catheter."
Doctors sometimes cause strokes on purpose — embolizing a vessel can be the safest way to starve a tumor or stop deadly bleeding.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of embolize
"Embolize" comes from the Greek embolos, meaning "plug" or "wedge." The related noun "embolus" was adopted into nineteenth-century medical Latin to describe matter carried in the bloodstream that obstructs a vessel, and the verb formed from it with the -ize suffix common in scientific English. Its cognates include "embolism" and the adjective "embolic," all belonging to modern medical terminology rather than everyday language.
Related word forms
How embolize is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in medical and scientific contexts. When used transitively by clinicians, it usually refers to deliberate therapeutic occlusion (as in 'embolize a tumor'), whereas intransitive use typically describes pathological migration of a clot or other material.
Easily confused with embolize
An embolism is the blockage itself (or the obstructing mass), while to embolize is the act of causing such a blockage.