clot

[ klot ]

noun

1. a mass or lump.
2. a semisolid mass, as of coagulated blood.
3. a small compact group of individuals:

   a clot of sightseers massed at the entrance.

4. British Informal. blockhead, dolt, clod.

verb (used without object)

, clot·ted, clot·ting.

1. to form into clots; coagulate.

verb (used with object)

, clot·ted, clot·ting.

1. to cause to clot.
2. to cover with clots:

   Carefully aimed snowballs clotted the house.

3. to cause to become blocked or obscured:

   to clot the book's narrative with too many characters.

clot

/ klɒt /

noun

1. a soft thick lump or mass

   a clot of blood

2. informal.
   a stupid person; fool

verb

1. to form or cause to form into a soft thick lump or lumps

clot

/ klŏt /

1. A soft insoluble mass formed when blood or lymph gels. During blood clotting, white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and various clotting factors interact in a cascade of chemical reactions initiated by a wound. When a body tissue is injured, calcium ions and platelets act on prothrombin to produce the enzyme thrombin. Thrombin then catalyzes the conversion of the protein fibrinogen into fibrin, a fibrous protein that holds the clot together. An abnormal clot inside the blood vessels or the heart (a thrombus or an embolus ) can obstruct blood flow.

Derived Forms

• ˈclottish, adjective

Other Words From

• de·clot verb declotted declotting
• non·clotting adjective
• un·clotted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of clot¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English clott lump; cognate with Middle Dutch klotte, German Klotz block, log ( klutz )

Word History and Origins

Origin of clot¹

Old English clott, of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch klotte block, lump

Example Sentences

There is a clot that forms and blood can’t get to the heart, and your heart muscle dies.

From Freakonomics

No cases of blood clots are expected in older men, and two cases in every million doses are expected for women 50 and older.

From Science News

Johnson & Johnson presented data on two other cases of clots in people who received the vaccine during a clinical trial, one of whom was a 25-year-old man with a hallmark of the symptoms.

From Washington Post

She has had three surgeries to remove blood clots in her brain and her condition is slowly improving, he said.

From Washington Post

Studies suggest that some inoculated people develop an immune response that attacks a protein called platelet factor 4 or PF4, which makes platelets form clots.

From Science News

Surgeons drilled a small hole in his skull and removed the blood clot.

From The Daily Beast

And so far I see scant evidence that anything changed after she suffered a blood clot in December 2012.

From The Daily Beast

That led to a blood clot forming between her brain and skull.

From The Daily Beast

I had triple the normal rate of venous thromboembolism—a blood clot forming disorder—and an elevated risk for male breast cancer.

From The Daily Beast

The result is a rapidly enlarging blood clot, called a hematoma.

From The Daily Beast

Dugung nagpúgul sa inunlan, Placenta filled with a big clot of blood.

From Project Gutenberg

A clot is simply a mass of fibrin threads with a large number of corpuscles tangled within.

From Project Gutenberg

He was as one lost, as helpless in the crush of whirling humanity as a wind-driven clot of foam on a storm-tossed sea.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a clot of seaweed at his wrist, and the soles of his feet and one up-turned palm were grayish and shriveled.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a completely unforeseeable thing—a blood clot broke loose in a vein, and lodged in his brain.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• congeal
• curdle
• thicken