Word
systolic
Phoneticssys·tolic
US/sɪˈstɔɫɪk/
UK/sɪstˈɒlɪk/
Definition
adj. relating to the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats. It is the higher number in a blood pressure reading.
adj. relating to the contraction of the heart, specifically the pressure in the arteries during this phase. Often used in medical contexts to describe the upper value of a blood pressure measurement.
Examples
“The doctor checked my systolic blood pressure.”
“A systolic reading above 140 indicates that the heart is working harder than normal to pump blood through the body.”
“While both systolic and diastolic pressures are important, systolic readings are often more predictive of cardiovascular risk in older adults due to the stiffening of arterial walls over time.”
Examples
simple
“The doctor checked my systolic blood pressure.”
contextual
“A systolic reading above 140 indicates that the heart is working harder than normal to pump blood through the body.”
complex
“While both systolic and diastolic pressures are important, systolic readings are often more predictive of cardiovascular risk in older adults due to the stiffening of arterial walls over time.”
Real-World Examples
“Adults who took a small dose twice daily for 20 days saw their systolic blood pressure fall by an average of 8.5 mmHg, while a placebo group showed little change.” Etymology
From systole + -ic.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/systolic