1. a surgical procedure in which a needle or catheter is inserted into a body cavity or organ to remove fluid or gas for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes
Usage: medical/technical term; often used in combination with other terms (e.g., paracentesis, thoracentesis, amniocentesis)

Examples

• The doctor performed a centesis to drain excess fluid from the patient's abdomen.
• Amniocentesis is a type of centesis used during pregnancy to test amniotic fluid.
• The procedure involved a centesis to obtain a sample for laboratory analysis.
• Thoracentesis, a centesis of the chest cavity, helped relieve the patient's breathing difficulty.