Medical English regular verbs list

Here is an extensive list of the most common Medical English regular verbs along with their
definitions and examples of use.

Remember that a verb is regular when both past forms (past simple and past participle) finish in
‘ed’.

Ache

Suffer a dull, continuous pain: My head began to ache and I felt dizzy.

Administer

Apply or give a treatment or drug as a remedy: The doctor administers a drug to the patient.

Admit

Register a patient in a hospital for medical treatment: The patient was admitted to the hospital this
morning.

Aggravate

Make worse, especially something that is already damaged: Long distance running just aggravated
his knee injury.

Analyse

Examine in detail: The laboratory analysed the patient’s blood sample.

Breathe

Inhale and exhale air: When I go up the stairs I often have difficulty breathing.

Bruise

Injure without breaking the skin, especially with some discolouration: Jimmy fell off his bike and
badly bruised his leg.
Catheterise

Insert a catheter into a part of the body: The elderly patient was catheterised for three weeks.

Choke

When you cannot breathe because something is blocking your throat or there is a lack of air: The
child almost choked to death after swallowing a bone.

Complain

Express feelings of pain or discomfort: The patient was a 57-year-old man who complained of
central chest pain.

Cough

Suddenly and noisily expel air from the lungs through the mouth: The patient starting coughing
violently for about 30 seconds.

Cure

Make a patient healthy: Unfortunately, some forms of cancer cannot be cured.

Deliver

Assist in giving birth: The midwife delivered the twins early in the morning.

Deteriorate

Become worse: The patient’s health deteriorated to the point that a wheelchair was needed for
any type of mobility.

Diagnose

Find out what physical or mental problem someone has by examining them: I diagnosed that the
patient had a heart condition.

Die

Stop living: According to doctors, several patients died as a result of organ failure.
Discard

Throw away something after you have used it: The surgeon discarded his disposable gloves after
the surgery.

Discharge

Officially allow a patient to leave the hospital after being admitted: The 27-year-old male was
discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon in a stable condition.

Ease

Alleviate pain or symptoms: She had an injection to ease the pain in her leg.

Examine

Check or test the condition or health of a patient: The paediatrician examined the child’s rash.

Explore

Examine an interior part or body cavity for diagnostic purposes, especially by surgery: An upper
endoscopy allows the doctor to explore the cause of such symptoms such as difficulty in
swallowing and abdominal pain.

Faint

Lose consciousness: Mrs Smith fainted when she saw the blood.

Fracture

Break or crack, especially a bone: The player fractured his arm in two places.

Harm

Injure physically or mentally: Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of your body.

Heal
When the skin becomes healthy again after an injury: The wound should heal faster if you take off
the bandage.

Infect

Transmit a disease: The sick child has infected practically the whole class.

Inflame

Cause the skin to go hot or go red: Certain chemicals can sometimes inflame the skin.

Inject

Put a drug into your body through the skin, using a needle and a syringe: The nurse injected the
medication into the patient’s chest and he was taken to the ward.

Irritate

Make inflamed or sore: Certain beauty products can irritate the skin.

Itch

If your skin itches you have a strong desire to scratch it: It is not uncommon for people’s skin to
itch after having taken a shower.

Numb

Make an area of the body numb for a surgical procedure: The local anaesthetic will numb the skin
before the procedure.

Nurse

Serve as a nurse for someone: They nursed the patient during her illness.

Operate

Perform surgery: The surgeons decided to operate on the baby as it was a matter of life and death.
Perform

Do an experiment or test: We performed an MRI scan and everything looked normal.

Prescribe

If a doctor prescribes a drug or treatment, they say you should have it: The doctor prescribed a
course of antibiotics.

Present

Show symptoms or signs during a medical examination: Our patient presented with chest pain on
exertion.

Probe

Explore a part of the body using a special tool (a probe): The surgeon then probed the wound with
a scalpel.

Radiate

Extend or spread: The pain may radiate to the neck or even the jaw.

Reassure

Comfort a patient, perhaps before an operation: The nurse reassured me and told me everything
was fine.

Recover

Regain normal health after an illness or injury: The elderly patient has fully recovered after the
operation.

Refer

Send a patient to a specialist: The GP referred the patient to a specialist.

Relieve

To alleviate pain or symptoms: This drug should help to relieve the pain.
Replace

When a dysfunctional joint is substituted for an orthopaedic prosthesis: Elderly patients often need
to have a hip replaced.

Respond

Begin to get better because of the treatment: The cancer is not responding to the drugs.

Shiver

Shake or tremble, especially because of being cold or fever: I was shivering because of the fever.

Sneeze

Forcibly expel air out of your nose in a sudden uncontrolled way: All this dust is making me sneeze.

Soothe

Relieve the pain or discomfort: This lotion will soothe the rash.

Specialise

Study or treat one particular type of patient: He specialises in children with stomach problems.

Sprain

Injure a joint by a sudden twisting: The runner fell and sprained his ankle.

Sterilise

Make free from germs: Needles used for injections must be sterilised.

Strain

Injure a muscle by making it work too hard: She strained her back when she tried to lift the table.
Suffer

Have an illness for a long period of time: Jill has suffered from migraines for years now.

Swallow

Pass food or drink through the mouth and throat into the stomach: When you have a sore throat it
may hurt to swallow.

Sweat

Perspire: The patient sweated profusely after taking a shower.

Test

Check for the presence of infection or disease: The doctor tested the patient’s blood.

Treat

Use medicine or medical methods to cure a patient or an illness: The injured passengers were
treated for minor injuries after the accident.

Vaccinate

Use a vaccine to give a patient immunisation against a specific disease: Sarah was vaccinated
against smallpox as a child.

Weigh

Determine the weight of something or someone: The nurse weighed the new-born baby on the
scales.

Worsen

Make or become worse: The patient’s condition worsened despite the medication