intravenous
Americanadjective
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within a vein.
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of, pertaining to, employed in, or administered by injection into a vein.
an intravenous solution.
noun
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an intravenous injection.
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intravenous feeding. IV
adjective
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Existing or occurring within a vein.
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Administered into a vein, as an injection.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intravenous
Explanation
If you're severely dehydrated, your nurse will rig up an intravenous drip to get liquid into you: she'll skip your mouth and plug directly into your veins. Intravenous can be broken down to intra-, meaning "within" or "via," and venous, meaning "of the veins." Often in hospitals you will be given water or nutrients from intravenous drips — you've surely seen these on TV if not at the hospital: plastic bags of liquid connected to a tube going into someone's arm. It's a way to get needed stuff into your body without waiting for the digestive system to handle it.
Vocabulary lists containing intravenous
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What we do not yet have are large, definitive randomized trials showing that high-dose intravenous vitamin C clearly prolongs life for most cancer patients.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
After surgery, everyone received intravenous paracetamol every eight hours.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2026
Samples from his intravenous line earlier that evening later tested positive for Enterococcus faecalis.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Since 2015, NHS patients have received the world's best-selling drug through a drip – or intravenous infusion – which can take more than an hour to administer in hospital.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
From a metal rig hung a plastic bag of ginger-colored fluid, the intravenous tube disconnected and dangling to the floor.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
