English Reference

Word

NIH

Phoneticsnih

Definitions

01US medical agency

C1 · Medicine

n. Stands for National Institutes of Health. This is the main US government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research.

n. Abbreviation for National Institutes of Health. A primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research, consisting of 27 separate institutes and centers.

“The NIH provided a large grant to the university to study heart disease.”

“Researchers funded by the NIH have made significant breakthroughs in genomic sequencing over the last decade.”

American English · Technical

Usage

Usually preceded by 'the' when referring to the agency.

02not invented here

C2 · Computing

adj. Stands for 'not invented here'. You use this to describe a group that refuses to use good ideas just because they didn't think of them first.

adj. Abbreviation for 'not invented here'. Used to describe a corporate or institutional culture that avoids using products, research, or knowledge from external sources due to internal bias.

“The company failed because of its NIH attitude toward new technology from rivals.”

“The engineering department's NIH syndrome prevented them from adopting a more efficient third-party software solution.”

Technical · Informal

Usage

Often used to modify nouns like 'syndrome', 'attitude', or 'bias'.

Teaching tip

This is a common piece of business and engineering jargon; it is almost always used as a criticism of a company's culture.

Synonyms

insularinward-looking

Real-World Examples

“The research was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH (award numbers P20GM103447 and P20GM103639).”
ScienceDaily · 17 Aug 2026
“First, we see in scientific publications that risky work with bat coronaviruses was undertaken in Wuhan, some with US National Institutes of Health (NIH) support.”
The Guardian · 15 Aug 2026
“I think that’s what’s going on here.” NIH grants are typically awarded for several years and have regular check-ins with the funding institution.”
The Guardian · 17 Aug 2026

Domain

Government

This entry

Level
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference