Cheyne-Stokes
UK/tʃeɪnˈstəʊks/US/tʃeɪnˈstoʊks/
Cheyne-Stokes noun: an abnormal pattern of breathing involving apnea alternating with periods of compensatory hyperventilation and with smooth, gradual transitions between the two, characteristic of those in a coma or suffering cardiac or cerebral episodes.
Noun
Cheyne-Stokes (uncountable)
- An abnormal pattern of breathing involving apnea alternating with periods of compensatory hyperventilation and with smooth, gradual transitions between the two, characteristic of those in a coma or suffering cardiac or cerebral episodes.
- He recognized Cheyne-Stokes tendencies in his respiration—but like everything the symptom served only to turn him in toward his emotion.1934, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter IX, in Malcolm Cowley, editor, Tender is the Night […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1951, →OCLC, book III (Casualties: 1925), page 154
Origin of Cheyne-Stokes
From the names of Scottish physician John Cheyne (1777–1836) and Irish physician William Stokes (1804–1878).
Questions about Cheyne-Stokes
- What does Cheyne-Stokes mean?
- Cheyne-Stokes means an abnormal pattern of breathing involving apnea alternating with periods of compensatory hyperventilation and with smooth, gradual transitions between the two, characteristic of those in a coma or suffering cardiac or cerebral episodes.
- What part of speech is Cheyne-Stokes?
- Cheyne-Stokes is a noun.
- How do you pronounce Cheyne-Stokes?
- Cheyne-Stokes is pronounced /tʃeɪnˈstəʊks/ (UK).
Words near Cheyne-Stokes in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Cheyne-Stokes (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “Cheyne-Stokes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cheyne-stokes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.