# clinical

Pronunciation: say "KLIN-i-kuhl" /ˈklɪnɪkəl/

## Adjective

1. Dealing with the practical management and treatment of patients at the point of care, as contrasted with laboratory research or other health care settings.
   - Simple: Involving work with real patients, not just study in classrooms or labs.
   - _After two years of coursework, medical students begin their clinical rotations in hospitals._
   - _The drug showed promise in the lab, but clinical results in actual patients were disappointing._
2. Relating to a clinic of any kind, such as a medical or legal clinic.
   - Simple: Connected with a clinic, a place where people get medical or legal help.
   - _The university's clinical legal program pairs students with clients who cannot afford a lawyer._
   - _Clinical hours at the neighborhood health center run from eight in the morning to six at night._
3. Showing a professional's cool detachment and lack of emotion, as opposed to acting impulsively or unprofessionally.
   - Simple: Calm and showing no feeling, in the way a professional does a job.
   - _Her clinical detachment unsettled the grieving family, who wanted sympathy rather than statistics._
   - _He described the breakup in clinical terms, as if reporting on someone else's life._
4. Objective and analytical; based on detached examination of the facts.
   - Simple: Based on facts and careful thinking, without feelings getting in the way.
   - _The committee's clinical review of the budget ignored office politics entirely._
   - _Critics admired the memoir's clinical honesty about the author's failures._
5. Excellent and precise; carried out with flawless accuracy.
   - Simple: Done with great skill and exactness, with nothing wasted.
   - _The champion closed out the match with clinical efficiency, winning twelve of the last fourteen points._
   - _It was a clinical finish: one touch to control the ball, one to bury it._

## Noun

6. A period of hands-on training in which a medical or nursing student works with patients in a real hospital or other care setting.
   - Simple: A training session where a medical student works in a real hospital or nursing setting.
   - _After her morning clinical on the cardiac ward, she stayed late to finish patient charts._
   - _He scheduled his clinicals around a part-time job at the pharmacy._

## Adjective

7. Of or relating to a bed, especially the bed of a dying person. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Connected with a bed, especially the bed of a person who is dying.

## Origin

Formed from "clinic" with the suffix "-al".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/clinical (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).