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Webster 1913 Edition

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Noun.

[NL., fr. Gr. [GREEK] thorax + [GREEK] pricking, from [GREEK] to prick, stab.]

(Surg.)

The operation of puncturing the chest wall so as to let out liquids contained in the cavity of the chest.

thoracentesis ‎(plural thoracenteses)

(surgery) A medical procedure involving needle drainage of air or fluid from the pleural space.

medical procedure