Health & Medicine

Overview

11 B1-level words for health, medicine, and body.

Words

breathe /bɹiːð/

verb — B1

Meaning: To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases.

Example:

• She breathes every day.
• They breatheed last week.

Collocations: breathe something, breathe that, try to breathe

Word family: breathe (đt.) → breath (dt.) → breathing (dt.)

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injure /ˈɪndʒə/

verb — B1

Meaning: To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature.

Example:

• She injures every day.
• They injureed last week.

Collocations: injure something, injure that, try to injure

Word family: injure (đt.) → injury (dt.) → injured (tt.)

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injured /ˈɪndʒəd/

adjective — B1

Meaning: To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature.

Example:

• The result was very injured.
• It’s a injured situation.

Collocations: very injured, quite injured, extremely injured

Word family: injure (đt.) → injury (dt.) → injured (tt.)

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mental /ˈmɛntəl/

adjective — B1

Meaning: Of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process.

Example:

• The result was very mental.
• It’s a mental situation.

Collocations: very mental, quite mental, extremely mental

Word family: mental (tt.) → mentally (trt.) → mentality (dt.)

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muscle /ˈmʌs.əl/

noun — B1

Meaning: A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement.

Example:

• Muscle consists largely of actin and myosin filaments.
• He muscled his way through the crowd.

Collocations: the muscle, a muscle of, muscle is important

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painful /ˈpeɪn.fəl/

adjective — B1

Meaning: Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.

Example:

• The result was very painful.
• It’s a painful situation.

Collocations: very painful, quite painful, extremely painful

Word family: pain (dt.) → painful (tt.) → painfully (trt.) → painless (tt.)

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pale /peɪl/

adjective — B1

Meaning: Paleness; pallor.

Example:

• The result was very pale.
• It’s a pale situation.

Collocations: very pale, quite pale, extremely pale

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symptom /ˈsɪm(p)təm/

noun — B1

Meaning: A perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash.

Example:

• The symptom is very important.
• She talked about the symptom.

Collocations: the symptom, a symptom of, symptom is important

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throat /ˈθɹəʊt/

noun — B1

Meaning: The front part of the neck.

Example:

• The wild pitch bounced and hit the catcher in the throat.
• to throat threats

Collocations: the throat, a throat of, throat is important

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tongue /tʌŋ/

noun — B1

Meaning: The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech.

Example:

• The tongue is very important.
• Playing wind instruments involves tonguing on the reed or mouthpiece.

Collocations: the tongue, a tongue of, tongue is important

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treatment /ˈtɹiːtmənt/

noun — B1

Meaning: The process or manner of treating someone or something.

Example:

• He still has nightmares resulting from the treatment he received from his captors.
• She talked about the treatment.

Collocations: the treatment, a treatment of, treatment is important

Word family: treat (đt.) → treatment (dt.)

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Quick Review

Word	Type	Meaning
breathe	v.	To draw air into (inhale), and expel air from (exhale), the lungs in order to extract oxygen and excrete waste gases
injure	v.	To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature
injured	adj.	To wound or cause physical harm to a living creature
mental	adj.	Of or relating to the mind or an intellectual process
muscle	n.	A contractile form of tissue which animals use to effect movement
painful	adj.	Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental
pale	adj.	Paleness; pallor
symptom	n.	A perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash
throat	n.	The front part of the neck
tongue	n.	The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech
treatment	n.	The process or manner of treating someone or something