Science & Medicine — Set 2: Meanings flashcards
10 of 75 cards free to study here · 8 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
The 75 less common of the 150 Science & Medicine words, from artery and quarantine to permafrost and exoplanet: pronunciation, a plain definition and three example sentences, the most common use first.
Learn deck · part of Science & Medicine · written against: 150 words of health and science news; not medical advice. Updated 2026-10-10.
Study the free sample
10 cards from the deck as they are. Flip, rate yourself, filter by topic; your progress stays in this browser.
Tap the card or press Space to flip
The 10 sample cards as a list
-
artery (n.) · AR-tuh-reea blood vessel that the heart pumps blood into, for delivery out to the organs and tissuesBody & Health
Regular exercise helps keep arteries flexible and free of fatty buildup.
Each heartbeat sends a surge of blood through the arteries.
The aorta, the body's largest artery, is about an inch wide.
Watch out: in traffic reports, an artery is a major road that carries heavy traffic. -
symptom (n.) · SIMP-tuhmwhat someone feels or notices that may mean they are ill, such as pain, tiredness or a change in mood or thinkingBody & Health
Common cold symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing and a cough.
The doctor asked Mr. Osei when his symptoms had first started.
Some people who catch the virus show no symptoms at all.
Watch out: news also uses symptom for any outward hint that something bigger has gone wrong: "a symptom of poor planning." -
transmit (v.) · trans-MITto infect another person, animal or plant with a disease or infection you carry; to beam a signal through the airDisease & Infection
A sick child can easily transmit a cold to the whole family.
Asian citrus psyllids transmit citrus greening, a disease that kills orange trees.
A radio collar transmits the wolf's location to researchers every hour. -
quarantine (n., v.) · KWOR-uhn-teenseparation of people or animals exposed to a disease until it's clear they aren't ill; to separate them soDisease & Infection
Students exposed to measles were kept home in quarantine until doctors cleared them.
New animals at the zoo spend a month in quarantine before meeting the others.
Inspectors quarantined the farm's sheep until tests came back clear.
Don't confuse with: isolation, which separates people already known to be sick. -
chemotherapy (n.) · kee-moh-THAIR-uh-peea cancer treatment, also used against some other diseases, in which drugs kill fast-dividing cells or keep them from multiplyingDiagnosis & Treatment
After six rounds of chemotherapy, Mr. Haddad rang the clinic's celebration bell.
Chemotherapy can cause hair loss because the drugs also hit fast-growing hair cells.
Researchers are testing gentler chemotherapy drugs for young patients.
Watch out: people often shorten the word to chemo. -
biotechnology (n.) · bigh-oh-tek-NAH-luh-jeetechnology built on biology, in which living cells or parts of them, such as genes, are put to work making medicines, crops and other goodsResearch & Technology
The city's growing biotechnology industry employs thousands of lab workers.
Insulin for diabetes is now made by biotechnology, using engineered bacteria and yeast.
Nadia is majoring in biotechnology and hopes to breed drought-tolerant crops. -
organism (n.) · OR-guh-niz-uhmany one living thing considered as a whole, whether an animal, a plant, a fungus, a bacterium or another kindGenes & Life
Every organism, from bacteria to blue whales, is made of cells.
Scientists found living organisms in a lake buried deep beneath Antarctic ice.
The yeast in bread dough is a single-celled organism. -
polymer (n.) · PAH-luh-mura substance formed when many small, repeating units link up into very long chain molecules, such as plastic or rubberMatter & Energy
Most plastics are polymers made from chemicals found in oil.
Cotton is mostly cellulose, a natural polymer built from long chains of glucose.
The chemistry class made a stretchy polymer by mixing glue and borax. -
tsunami (n.) · tsuu-NAH-meea chain of giant waves raised when an undersea earthquake, landslide or volcanic eruption suddenly shoves the sea's waterEarth & Climate
Coastal towns in Japan hold regular tsunami drills.
Ocean sensors can detect a tsunami and warn coasts hours before it arrives.
Geologists study sand layers left by tsunamis thousands of years ago.
Watch out: tsunamis aren't caused by tides, though people sometimes call them "tidal waves." -
comet (n.) · KAH-mitan icy body orbiting the sun that grows a glowing tail of gas and dust as it heats upSpace
Families stepped outside at dusk to spot the comet low in the western sky.
A comet's tail always points away from the sun.
In 2014, Rosetta's lander Philae touched down on a comet.
Don't confuse with: asteroid, a rocky or metal body that usually grows no tail.
Unlock the whole deck
You are studying a free 10-card sample. All 75 cards of Science & Medicine — Set 2: Meanings, the other 7 Science & Medicine decks, and spaced-repetition scheduling are built into Willys. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
More Science & Medicine decks
← All Science & Medicine decks, with the study guide and topic outline.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Senses, parts of speech and pronunciations checked against Merriam-Webster.com, the American Heritage Dictionary and the Oxford Learner's, Longman and Cambridge learner's dictionaries; all definitions, notes and example sentences are original.
- Word selection is our own, from general-reader news, textbooks and frequency data (wordfreq, CC BY-SA 4.0); no publisher's list is reproduced.
These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.
Use of these pages is covered by our Terms of Use.