hypoxia

IPA/haɪˈpɒksiə/
KK[haɪpˈɑksiə]IPA/haɪˈpɑːksiə/

hypoxia — noun

1. a medical condition in which the body's tissues do not get enough oxygen, usuall

1.名詞C1
釋義

a medical condition in which the body's tissues do not get enough oxygen, usually because of a breathing problem, heart trouble, or lack of oxygen in the air

例句

Femi developed severe hypoxia after climbing above 5,500 metres without supplemental oxygen.

collocation: severe hypoxia

Beatrix's blood oxygen levels stayed dangerously low for weeks before doctors diagnosed chronic hypoxia.

collocation: chronic hypoxia

同義詞
  • oxygen deficiency

    less technical, used in both medical and general contexts

  • anoxia

    more severe — means complete lack of oxygen, not just insufficient

  • hypoxemia

    more specific — refers to low oxygen in the blood, not necessarily in the tissues

用法筆記

Frequently paired with a severity or location adjective: acute hypoxia, chronic hypoxia, cerebral hypoxia. The term hypoxemia refers specifically to low oxygen in the blood, while hypoxia can refer to low oxygen in the tissues.

常見錯誤

The patient suffered from hypoxemia in her brain.
The patient suffered from cerebral hypoxia.
💡hypoxemia is low oxygen in the blood; hypoxia in the brain tissue is cerebral hypoxia.

2. a condition in which a body of water, an area of soil, or a pocket of air contai

2.名詞C1
釋義

a condition in which a body of water, an area of soil, or a pocket of air contains very little oxygen, making it hard for most living things to survive there

例句

Andrés studies how fertiliser runoff creates coastal zones of hypoxia that kill marine life.

collocation: zones of hypoxia

Each summer a zone of hypoxia covers thousands of square kilometres in the Gulf.

同義詞
  • oxygen depletion

    focuses on the process of oxygen being removed, rather than the resulting condition

  • deoxygenation

    technical term for the process of oxygen being removed from water

  • dead zone

    informal term for a large area of hypoxia in water, especially where marine life cannot survive

用法筆記

Common in ecology and environmental science; often paired with zone, area, or event (e.g. hypoxia zone, hypoxic event). The adjective hypoxic describes the affected area.

常見錯誤

The river had hypoxia because it was too warm.
The river had a zone of hypoxia because pollution caused algae to use up the oxygen.
💡hypoxia in the environmental sense is not simply warm water; it refers to a measurable lack of dissolved oxygen.