respiratory failure

British

noun

a condition in which the respiratory system is unable to provide an adequate supply of oxygen or to remove carbon dioxide efficiently

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Officials said the symptoms he reportedly experienced—paralysis, acute pain and respiratory failure—are consistent with epibatidine poisoning.

From The Wall Street Journal

Delays in antivenom administration can result in respiratory failure, paralysis, irreversible tissue damage, or organ failure.

From BBC

The doctor ruled out the possibility that she had suffered respiratory failure or cardiac arrest, according to the reports.

From BBC

Sarah McCubbin, 53, from Amesbury in Wiltshire, has asthma and suffered a type 2 respiratory failure, which causes dangerously low blood oxygen levels, three years ago.

From BBC

The actor died of “acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure,” according to her death certificate obtained by People.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023