Dictionary of family medicine W

• w   noun the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet;  a unit of power equal to 1 joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of 1 ampere flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm;  the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees;  a heavy grey white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
• w bc.
• w pw.
• w pw syndrome.
• waist   noun the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips; the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole
• waist circumference assessing body composition.
• waist to hip.
• waist to hip ratio assessing body composition by.
• waking   adj. marked by full consciousness or alertness;  noun the state of remaining awake
• waldenstr.
• walker   noun an enclosing framework on casters or wheels; helps babies learn to walk;  a light enclosing framework (trade name Zimmer) with rubber castors or wheels and handles; helps invalids or the handicapped or the aged to walk;  a shoe designed for comfortable walking;  United States writer (born in 1944);  New Zealand runner who in 1975 became the first person to run a mile in less that 3 minutes and 50 seconds (born in 1952);  a person who travels by foot
• walking   adj. close enough to be walked to;  noun the act of traveling by foot
• wall   noun an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure;  a masonry fence (as around an estate or garden); a layer of material that encloses space;  (anatomy) a layer (a lining or membrane) that encloses a structure;  anything that suggests a wall in structure or function or effect;  a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain);  a difficult or awkward situation;  an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes;  verb surround with a wall in order to fortify
• wallenberg.
• walter   noun German conductor (1876 1962)
• walton   noun Irish physicist who (with Sir John Cockcroft in 1931) first split an atom (1903 1995);  English writer remember for his treatise on fishing (1593 1683);  English composer (1902 1983)
• warfarin   noun an anticoagulant (trade name Coumadin) use to prevent and treat a thrombus or embolus
• warn   verb notify, usually in advance;  ask to go away;  notify of danger, potential harm, or risk;  admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior
• warning   adj. serving to warn;  noun a message informing of danger;  cautionary advice about something imminent (especially imminent danger)
• wart   noun (pathology) a firm abnormal elevated blemish on the skin; caused by a virus;  any small rounded protuberance (as on certain plants or animals)
• warts.
• washing   noun the work of cleansing (usually with soap and water); garments or white goods that can be cleaned by laundering
• wassermann   noun German bacteriologist who developed a diagnostic test for syphilis (1866 1925);  a blood test to detect syphilis; a complement fixation test is used to detect antibodies to the syphilis organism treponema; a positive reaction indicates the presence of antibodies and therefore syphilis infection
• wasson.
• wasting   noun a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse;  any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease
• watch   noun a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe;  a small portable timepiece;  a period of time (4 or 2 hours) during which some of a ship's crew are on duty;  the period during which someone (especially a guard) is on duty;  the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes (especially on the eve of a religious festival);  a person employed to watch for something to happen;  verb observe with attention;  observe or determine by looking;  look attentively;  see or watch;  be vigilant, be on the lookout, be on one's guard, be careful;  follow with the eyes or the mind;  find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort
• water   noun a fluid necessary for the life of most animals and plants;  binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent;  once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles);  a facility that provides a source of water;  the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean);  liquid excretory product;  verb secrete or form water, as tears or saliva;  supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams;  fill with tears;  provide with water
• waterhouse.
• watermelon   noun large oblong or roundish melon with a hard green rind and sweet watery red or occasionally yellowish pulp;  an African melon
• watts   noun English poet and theologian (1674 1748)
• waves.
• ways   noun structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired
• wb   noun a unit of magnetic flux equal to 100,000,000 maxwells
• wbc   noun blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi; an important part of the body's defense system
• wbcs.
• wbgt.
• wdm.
• we.
• weakness   noun the property of lacking physical or mental strength; liability to failure under pressure or stress or strain;  a penchant for something even though it might not be good for you; the condition of being financially weak;  powerlessness revealed by an inability to act;  a flaw or weak point
• weaknesses.
• web   noun membrane connecting the toes of some aquatic birds and mammals;  an intricate trap that entangles or ensnares its victim; a fabric (especially a fabric in the process of being woven);  an intricate network suggesting something that was formed by weaving or interweaving;  the flattened weblike part of a feather consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft;  computer network consisting of a collection of internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol;  an interconnected system of things or people;  verbconstruct or form a web, as if by weaving
• weber   noun German physiologist who studied sensory responses to stimuli and is considered the father of psychophysics (1795 1878);  German conductor and composer of romantic operas (1786 1826);  German sociologist and pioneer of the analytic method in sociology (1864 1920);  United States abstract painter (born in Russia) (1881 1961);  German physicist and brother of E. H. Weber; noted for his studies of terrestrial magnetism (1804 1891);  a unit of magnetic flux equal to 100,000,000 maxwells
• weeks.
• weeping   adj. showing sorrow;  noun the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
• wegener   noun German geophysicist who proposed the theory of continental drift (1880 1930)
• weight   noun an artifact that is heavy;  sports equipment used in calisthenic exercises and weightlifting; it is not attached to anything and is raised and lowered by use of the hands and arms;  the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity;  the relative importance granted to something;  an oppressive feeling of heavy force;  (statistics) a coefficient assigned to elements of a frequency distribution in order to represent their relative importance;  a unit used to measure weight;  a system of units used to express the weight of something;  verb present with a bias;  weight down with a load
• weight gain.
• weight loss.
• weil   noun United States mathematician (born in France) (1906 1998);  French philosopher (1909 1943)
• weil disease.
• weiner.
• weiss.
• welchol.
• well   adj. wise or advantageous and hence advisable;  in good health especially after having suffered illness or injury;  resulting favorably;  adv. (often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (`good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for `well');  without unusual distress or resentment; with good humor;  indicating high probability; in all likelihood; thoroughly or completely; fully; often used as a combining form; favorably; with approval;  to a suitable or appropriate extent or degree;  in financial comfort;  in a manner affording benefit or advantage;  to a great extent or degree;  with skill or in a pleasing manner;  with prudence or propriety;  with great or especially intimate knowledge;  (used for emphasis or as an intensifier) entirely or fully; noun a deep hole or shaft dug or drilled to obtain water or oil or gas or brine;  an enclosed compartment in a ship or plane for holding something as e.g. fish or a plane's landing gear or for protecting something as e.g. a ship's pumps;  an open shaft through the floors of a building (as for a stairway);  a cavity or vessel used to contain liquid;  an abundant source;  verb come up, as of a liquid
• well child.
• well woman.
• wellbutrin.
• wellness   noun a healthy state of wellbeing free from disease
• wells   noun prolific English writer best known for his science fiction novels; he also wrote on contemporary social problems and wrote popular accounts of history and science (1866 1946)
• wendell.
• wernicke   noun German neurologist best known for his studies of aphasia (1848 1905)
• west   adj. situated in or facing or moving toward the west;  adv. to, toward, or in the west;  noun the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North America and South America;  the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River;  English painter (born in America) who became the second president of the Royal Academy (1738 1820);  United States film actress (1892 1980);  British writer (born in Ireland) (1892 1983);  the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees
• western   adj. lying toward or situated in the west;  relating to or characteristic of regions of western parts of the world;  of or characteristic of regions of the United States west of the Mississippi River;  of wind; from the west;  lying in or toward the west;  noun a film about life in the western United States during the period of exploration and development;  a sandwich made from a western omelet
• westernization   noun assimilation of Western culture; the social process of becoming familiar with or converting to the customs and practices of Western civilization
• weston   noun United States photographer(1886 1958)
• wet   adj. consisting of or trading in alcoholic liquor;  covered or soaked with a liquid such as water;  producing or secreting milk; supporting or permitting the legal production and sale of alcoholic beverages;  containing moisture or volatile components;  very drunk; noun wetness caused by water;  verb make one's bed or clothes wet by urinating;  cause to become wet
• wet bulb globe temperature.
• wet to dry.
• what.
• wheaton.
• wheel and spoke.
• wheezing   adj. relating to breathing with a whistling sound
• wheezing and asthma.
• wheezing and stridor.
• when.
• when to start nutritional supplementation.
• where.
• whiplash   noun an injury to the neck (the cervical vertebrae) resulting from rapid acceleration or deceleration (as in an automobile accident);  a quick blow delivered with a whip or whiplike object
• whipple.
• white   adj. of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration;  of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets;  being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light; (of hair) having lost its color;  (of coffee) having cream or milk added; benevolent; without malicious intent;  glowing white with heat; restricted to whites only;  marked by the presence of snow;  free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied;  anemic looking from illness or emotion;  (of a surface) not written or printed on;  noun (board games) the lighter pieces;  the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black);  a tributary of the Mississippi River that flows southeastward through northern Arkansas and southern Missouri;  a member of the Caucasoid race;  United States educator who in 1865 (with Ezra Cornell) founded Cornell University and served as its first president (1832 1918);  United States writer noted for his humorous essays (1899 1985);  United States architect (1853 1906);  United States political journalist (1915 1986);  Australian writer (1912 1990);  United States jurist appointed chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1910 by President Taft; noted for his work on antitrust legislation (1845 1921);  (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth;  the white part of an egg; the nutritive and protective gelatinous substance surrounding the yolk consisting mainly of albumin dissolved in water;  verb turn white
• white blood cell count.
• white blood cells.
• whitehead   noun a small whitish lump in the skin due to a clogged sebaceous gland;  English philosopher and mathematician who collaborated with Bertrand Russell (1861 1947)
• who   noun a United Nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services
• who world health organization.
• whole   adj. including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete; (of siblings) having the same parents;  acting together as a single undiversified whole;  exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health; not impaired or diminished in any way;  wholly unharmed;  including everything;  adv. to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly');  noun an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity;  all of something including all its component elements or parts
• whooping.
• whooping cough   noun a disease of the respiratory mucous membrane
• widower   noun a man whose wife is dead especially one who has not remarried
• widower effect.
• width   noun the extent of something from side to side
• wilde   noun Irish writer and wit (1854 1900)
• wilhelm.
• will   noun a fixed and persistent intent or purpose;  a legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die;  the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;  verb determine by choice;  have in mind; decree or ordain;  leave or give by will after one's death
• willard   noun United States educator who was an early campaigner for higher education for women (1787 1870);  United States advocate of temperance and women's suffrage (1839 1898)
• willebrand   noun Finnish physician who first described vascular hemophilia (1870 1949)
• william.
• williams   noun United States playwright (1911 1983);  English clergyman and colonist who was expelled from Massachusetts for criticizing Puritanism; he founded Providence in 1636 and obtained a royal charter for Rhode Island in 1663 (1603 1683);  United States baseball player noted as a hitter (1918 2002);  United States poet (1883 1963);  English philosopher credited with reviving the field of moral philosophy (1929 2003);  United States country singer and songwriter (1923 1953)
• willis   noun English physician who was a pioneer in the study of the brain (1621 1675)
• willpower   noun the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior
• wilms.
• wilson   noun a peak in the San Juan mountains of Colorado (14,246 feet high);  28th President of the United States; led the United States in World War I and secured the formation of the League of Nations (1856 1924);  United States literary critic (1895 1972);  Scottish physicist who invented the cloud chamber (1869 1959);  United States entomologist who has generalized from social insects to other animals including humans (born in 1929);  American Revolutionary leader who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence (1742 1798);  Canadian geophysicist who was a pioneer in the study of plate tectonics (1908 1993);  United States physicist honored for his work on cosmic microwave radiation (born in 1918);  Scottish ornithologist in the United States (1766 1813); English writer of novels and short stories (1913 1991);  author of the first novel by an African American that was published in the United States (1808 1870)
• wilson disease.
• wilson jungner.
• wilson jungner criteria in appraising validity of screening.
• window   noun a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air;  a transparent opening in a vehicle that allow vision out of the sides or back; usually is capable of being opened;  a transparent panel (as of an envelope) inserted in an otherwise opaque material;  (computer science) a rectangular part of a computer screen that contains a display different from the rest of the screen;  an opening in the wall of a building (usually to admit light and air);  an opening that resembles a window in appearance or function;  the time period that is considered best for starting or finishing something;  a pane of glass in a window
• wisdom   noun the trait of utilizing knowledge and experience with common sense and insight;  the quality of being prudent and sensible;  ability to apply knowledge or experience or understanding or common sense and insight;  accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment;  an Apocryphal book consisting mainly of a meditation on wisdom; although ascribed to Solomon it was probably written in the first century BC
• with.
• with perindopril.
• with skin manifestations in.
• with skin manifestations in infants.
• with skin manifestations in infants and.
• withdrawal   noun the act of withdrawing;  the termination of drug taking;  the act of taking out money or other capital;  a retraction of a previously held position;  avoiding emotional involvement;  formal separation from an alliance or federation
• withering   adj. wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction;  making light of;  noun any weakening or degeneration (especially through lack of use)
• within   adv. on the inside
• without.
• wittstein.
• wj.
• wl.
• wn.
• wolff   noun German anatomist (1733 1794)
• wolff parkinson white.
• wolff parkinson white syndrome and.
• wolff parkinsonwhite.
• wolff parkinsonwhite syndrome.
• wolfgang.
• woman   noun an adult female person (as opposed to a man);  a female person who plays a significant role (wife or mistress or girlfriend) in the life of a particular man;  women as a class;  a human female who does housework
• women.
• women who have sex with men and women.
• women who have sex with women.
• women with.
• women with management.
• wonca.
• wood   noun a golf club with a long shaft used to hit long shots; originally made with a wooden head;  United States painter noted for works based on life in the Midwest (1892 1942);  English writer of novels about murders and thefts and forgeries (1814 1887);  English conductor (1869 1944);  United States film actress (1938 1981);  the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees;  any wind instrument other than the brass instruments;  the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
• woods   noun the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
• work   noun activity directed toward making or doing something;  a product produced or accomplished through the effort or activity or agency of a person or thing;  (physics) a manifestation of energy; the transfer of energy from one physical system to another expressed as the product of a force and the distance through which it moves a body in the direction of that force;  the occupation for which you are paid;  the total output of a writer or artist (or a substantial part of it);  a place where work is done;  applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading);  verb arrive at a certain condition through repeated motion;  move into or onto;  shape, form, or improve a material;  gratify and charm, usually in order to influence;  move in an agitated manner;  provoke or excite;  proceed towards a goal or along a path or through an activity;  cause to work; be employed;  exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity;  cause to operate or function;  operate in or through;  have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected;  operate in a certain place, area, or specialty;  behave in a certain way when handled;  give a workout to;  go sour or spoil; cause to undergo fermentation;  find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of;  use or manipulate to one's advantage;  make uniform;  perform as expected when applied; cause to happen or to occur as a consequence;  make something, usually for a specific function;  prepare for crops;  proceed along a path;  have and exert influence or effect
• work related.
• workers.
• working   adj. serving to permit or facilitate further work or activity; actively engaged in paid work;  adopted as a temporary basis for further work;  adequate for practical use; especially sufficient in strength or numbers to accomplish something;  (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing;  noun a mine or quarry that is being or has been worked
• workshop   noun a brief intensive course for a small group; emphasizes problem solving;  small workplace where handcrafts or manufacturing are done
• world   adj. involving the entire earth; not limited or provincial in scope;  noun all of the living human inhabitants of the earth;  all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you;  people in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest;  a part of the earth that can be considered separately;  the concerns of this life as distinguished from heaven and the afterlife; people in general considered as a whole;  the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on;  everything that exists anywhere
• world health organization   noun a United Nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services
• world health organization collaborating centre for metabolic.
• world organization of national colleges.
• worldview.
• worldview of patients with personality disorders.
• worry   noun a strong feeling of anxiety;  something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness;  verb touch or rub constantly;  lacerate by biting;  disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress;  be concerned with;  be worried, concerned, anxious, troubled, or uneasy;  be on the mind of
• worry exposure technique in anxiety disorders management.
• worsen   verb grow worse;  make worse
• worsening   adj. changing for the worse;  noun changing something with the result that it becomes worse;  process of changing to an inferior state
• wort   noun unfermented or fermenting malt;  usually used in combination: `liverwort'; `milkwort'; `whorlywort'
• worthlessness   noun having no qualities that would render it valuable or useful;  the quality of being without practical use
• wound   adj. put in a coil;  noun the act of inflicting a wound;  a casualty to military personnel resulting from combat;  a figurative injury (to your feelings or pride);  any break in the skin or an organ caused by violence or surgical incision;  verb cause injuries or bodily harm to;  hurt the feelings of
• wound healing.
• wounds.
• wright   noun someone who makes or repairs something (usually used in combination);  United States early feminist (born in Scotland) (1795 1852);  influential United States architect (1869 1959);  United States aviation pioneer who (with his brother Wilbur Wright) invented the airplane (1871 1948);  United States aviation pioneer who (with his brother Orville Wright) invented the airplane (1867 1912);  United States writer whose work is concerned with the oppression of African Americans (1908 1960);  United States writer of detective novels (1888 1939)
• wrinkles.
• wrist   noun a joint between the distal end of the radius and the proximal row of carpal bones
• ws.
• wsmw.
• wsmw women who have sex with men and women.
• wsw   noun the compass point midway between west and southwest
• wsw women who have sex with women.
• ww.

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