jugular

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   one of the large veins in the neck that carry blood from the head back toward the heart

   The punctures lay just above the external jugular.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to or situated in the neck or throat, especially a jugular vein

   The surgeon monitored the patient's jugular blood flow.

3. 3
   noun

   a vital or especially vulnerable point, as in the phrase go for the jugular

   The prosecutor went for the jugular by challenging the witness's central claim.

Common collocations

• jugular vein Adjective + noun

Borrowed in the late sixteenth century from Late Latin jugularis, from Latin jugulum ("throat, neck") + -aris. The figurative sense treats the jugular vein as a vulnerable target whose injury may be fatal, giving rise to the idiom go for the jugular.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images