Amniocentesis

noun

noun ·6 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A procedure for obtaining amniotic fluid from a pregnant animal, by inserting a hollow needle through the abdominal wall and into the amniotic sac. Used in diagnosing possible genetic defects and/or obstetric complications, or simply to drain excess amniotic fluid.

    "In most countries amniocentesis is now offered to – perhaps even imposed on – all older mothers, to check whether the foetus carries an extra chromosome."

  2. 2
    (pregnancy) extraction by centesis of amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman (after the 15th week of pregnancy) to aid in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amnio

Example

More examples

"Amniocentesis is usually conducted at 16 weeks gestation and involves taking fluid from the amniotic sac surrounding the developing fetus by inserting a hollow needle into the mother's uterus."

Etymology

By surface analysis, amnio- + -centesis.

Related phrases

amniotic fluidamniotic sac

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.