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hydrocution

hydrocution noun: the situation where blood vessels dilated by the heat contract suddenly, when cold water is applied to the skin, leading to cardiac arrest.

Noun

hydrocution (uncountable)

  1. The situation where blood vessels dilated by the heat contract suddenly, when cold water is applied to the skin, leading to cardiac arrest.
    • Although most swimming accidents occur because of insufficient swimming skills, many are caused by "hydrocution" or "thermodifferential shock."1987, Roy J. Shephard, The 1987 Year Book of Sports Medicine, →OCLC, page 134
    • French firemen warned people to enter the water gradually to accustom the body to temperature changes or risk hydrocution in which blood vessels dilated by the heat contract suddenly, raising the risk of cardiac arrest.2019 June 26, “Heatwave 'hell' claims first lives as temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius across Europe”, in Telegraph

Synonyms of hydrocution

Questions about hydrocution

What does hydrocution mean?
Hydrocution means the situation where blood vessels dilated by the heat contract suddenly, when cold water is applied to the skin, leading to cardiac arrest.
What part of speech is hydrocution?
Hydrocution is a noun.

Words near hydrocution in the dictionary

  1. hydrocrackings
  2. hydrocracks
  3. hydrocultural
  4. hydroculture
  5. hydrocupration
  6. hydrocution
  7. hydrocyanate
  8. hydrocyanates
  9. hydrocyanation
  10. hydrocyanations
  11. hydrocyanic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hydrocution (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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