Usage: "Blood thinner" is primarily used as a noun. Its central meaning — synonym of anticoagulant — makes it most effective in contexts where precision matters over a more general alternative.
Origin: By analogy with the idea of thinning liquids such as soup or paint (e.g., paint thinner), although the name is a misnomer in that these medications do not reduce the blood's viscosity but rather inhibit its clotting.
Watch out: Writers sometimes confuse "blood thinner" with "dicoumarol" or "heparin" — the words overlap in meaning but differ in nuance or register. Use "blood thinner" when you specifically mean its core sense rather than defaulting to it as a generic substitute.
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Last reviewed May 2026.
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