梗塞(こうそく)

The character 梗(こう) means 'to block' and 塞(そく) means 'to obstruct.' Together they describe the blockage of a blood vessel. Almost never used alone in everyday speech — it appears as part of compound medical terms.

Common collocations

• 心筋(しんきん)梗塞(こうそく): myocardial infarction (heart attack)
• 脳(のう)梗塞(こうそく): cerebral infarction (stroke caused by blockage)
• 梗塞(こうそく)を起(お)こす: to suffer an infarction
• 肺(はい)梗塞(こうそく): pulmonary infarction
• 梗塞(こうそく)巣(そう): infarcted area

Similar words

• 脳卒中(のうそっちゅう): stroke — general term covering both blockage (脳(のう)梗塞(こうそく)) and hemorrhage (脳(のう)出血(しゅっけつ))
• 血栓(けっせん): blood clot; thrombus — the clot itself that may cause the blockage, not the resulting tissue damage
• 発作(ほっさ): attack; seizure — a general term for sudden onset of symptoms, not specific to vascular blockage

Note on homophones

Several common words share the reading こうそく: 高速(こうそく) (high speed), 拘束(こうそく) (restraint), 校則(こうそく) (school rules). Context and kanji make the meaning clear.