embolus

[em-buh-luh s] /ˈɛm bə ləs/
noun, plural emboli
[em-buh-lahy] /ˈɛm bəˌlaɪ/ (Show IPA). Pathology
1.
undissolved material carried by the blood and impacted in some part of the vascular system, as thrombi or fragments of thrombi, tissue fragments, clumps of bacteria, protozoan parasites, fat globules, or gas bubbles.
Origin
1660-70; < Latin: piston < Greek émbolos stopper, equivalent to em- em-2 + bólos a throw, akin to bállein to throw
Examples from the web for embolus
  • The embolus sits at the end of a loop called the conductor.
  • The pulmonary arteries are normally developed, patent and without thrombus or embolus.
British Dictionary definitions for embolus

embolus

/ˈɛmbələs/
noun (pl) -li (-ˌlaɪ)
1.
material, such as part of a blood clot or an air bubble, that is transported by the blood stream until it becomes lodged within a small vessel and impedes the circulation Compare thrombus
Word Origin
C17: via Latin from Greek embolos stopper, from emballein to insert, from ballein to throw; see emblem
Word Origin and History for embolus
n.

1660s, "stopper, wedge," from Latin embolus "piston of a pump," from Greek embolos "peg, stopper; anything pointed so as to be easily thrust in," also "a tongue (of land), beak (of a ship)," from emballein (see emblem). Medical sense is from 1866. Related: Embolic.

embolus in Medicine

embolus em·bo·lus (ěm'bə-ləs)
n. pl. em·bo·li (-lī')
A mass, such as an air bubble, a detached blood clot, or a foreign body, that travels in the bloodstream and lodges in a blood vessel, thus serving to obstruct or occlude such a vessel.

embolus in Science
embolus
  (ěm'bə-ləs)   
Plural emboli (ěm'bə-lī)
See embolism.