n. A hollow flexible tube for insertion into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway. Its uses include the drainage of urine from the bladder through the urethra or insertion through a blood vessel into the heart for diagnostic purposes. [Late Latin, from Greek kathetēr, from kathīenai, kathe-, to send down : kat-, kata-, cata- + hīenai, to send; see yē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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