-tripsy
surgical crushing
From Greek tripsis, rubbing, friction (tribein, to rub, pound)
Meaning
What does -tripsy mean?
-tripsy is a suffix meaning surgical crushing. It comes from Greek tripsis, rubbing, friction (tribein, to rub, pound).
Almost always paired with lith/o, stone: lithotripsy breaks kidney stones or gallstones into pieces small enough to pass.
In real words
Medical words with -tripsy
breaking a stone in the urinary tract, often with shock waves, into pieces small enough to pass
breaking up a kidney stone through a tube passed into the kidney, then removing the fragments
Don't mix it up
Parts easily confused with -tripsy
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- Suffixes – Medical Terminology: An Interactive Approach
- 1.5 Common Suffixes – Medical Terminology 2e
- -tripsy - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Surgery
-tripsy is one of 9 parts in this lesson. Learn them together, then take real words apart.
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