mercury-in-glass clinical thermometer
Noun: A mercury-in-glass clinical thermometer is a specific type of thermometer used to measure human body temperature. It consists of a glass tube containing mercury, which expands and rises in the tube as temperature increases. The scale is narrowly graduated, typically covering only a few degrees above and below the normal human body temperature (approximately 98.6°F or 37°C), to allow for precise readings.
This term refers specifically to the traditional medical instrument for taking a person's temperature, often placed under the tongue, under the arm, or rectally. * The nurse shook down the mercury-in-glass clinical thermometer before placing it under the patient's tongue. * Due to safety concerns about mercury, many hospitals have replaced the mercury-in-glass clinical thermometer with digital devices.
- The term is often shortened in everyday language to "clinical thermometer" or simply "thermometer" when the context is clearly medical. However, "mercury-in-glass clinical thermometer" is the precise technical name for the classic design.
- It is distinguished from other thermometers (e.g., laboratory, outdoor, or digital thermometers) by its construction (mercury in glass) and its purpose (clinical use on the human body).
- Clinical thermometer: A broader term for any thermometer designed for medical use, which may be digital, infrared, or of the mercury-in-glass type.
- Fever thermometer: A common informal synonym.
- Mercury thermometer: A general term for any thermometer using mercury, which could be for industrial, laboratory, or clinical purposes.
- Medical thermometer
- Fever thermometer
- Digital thermometer
- Infrared thermometer (tympanic or temporal)
- Thermocouple (a different temperature-measuring technology)
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a mercury thermometer designed to measure the temperature of the human body; graduated to cover a range a few degrees on either side of the normal body temperature
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