Glossary
bolus
A bolus is a single dose given quickly and in full, as opposed to the same amount delivered slowly over time; the word also names a mass of chewed food ready to be swallowed.
A bolus is a dose delivered all at once or over a few minutes, rather than infused steadily: a bolus of fluid, an intravenous bolus of a drug. The contrast is with an infusion, the same drug or volume spread over hours, so a passage that mentions both is usually making a point about timing. The word also names a mass of chewed food, formed in the mouth and swallowed in one piece before it becomes chyme in the stomach — the older of the two senses, and the one the anatomy guide uses when it describes swallowing. Two notes can name the same total volume and mean different things depending on which was a bolus. Read the sentence for the rate, not just the amount, because two notes can name the same total volume and mean very different things depending on which was a bolus.
Taught in
Related terms
- context clue — A context clue is information in the sentence around an unknown word that narrows what the word means — a definition, a restatement, a contrast, an example, a consequence or the general sense.
- word part — A word part is a prefix, root, suffix or combining vowel — one of the pieces a medical word is built from.
Source: MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine) consumer guidance on understanding medical words, which the vocabulary guide follows for the prefix, root, suffix and combining-vowel system. US federal government material, not subject to copyright in the United States. Every definition and example above was written for this course in our own words; no dictionary or glossary text is reproduced. (MedlinePlus accessed 2026-10-27; definitions written 2026-10-27)