agonal

adjective

ag·​o·​nal ˈa-gə-nᵊl 

1

: marked by or characteristic of agony

They could hear agonal groans coming from inside, and were sure that someone was still alive and was calling for help.

—Lawrence Wright

2

: of, relating to, or associated with the act of dying : occurring just before death

In the agonal stage, death comes from hemorrhage and shock.

—Richard Preston

Kennedy had a very weak pulse and was experiencing what's called agonal breathing, labored, gasping, the body's final attempts to sustain life.

—Deanna Watson

Examples of agonal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One youth was saved, but another had agonal breathing was taken to a hospital. —Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 26 June 2024

Following the collision, Harb pulled into a gas station before responding officers found Eberly, who was wearing a helmet, suffering from agonal breathing with injuries and no pulse, the affidavit said. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 20 Jan. 2024

In this moment, emergency dispatchers need a mountain of confidence to urge action when agonal breathing happens. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2024

Nelson also asked whether agonal breathing — or involuntary gasps sometimes made by people under cardiac arrest — could be confused with regular breathing. —Chao Xiong, Star Tribune, 6 Apr. 2021

After Judge Tanya Chutkan overruled them, Crowns suggested what reporters saw was called agonal breathing — involuntary intakes of air in the final moments before death. —Michael Tarm, Star Tribune, 17 Feb. 2021

That's according to researchers at the University of Washington who found that around half of people experiencing a heart attack made sounds known as agonal breathing. —Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY, 20 June 2019

Standard smart speakers can be updated to detect the agonal breathing of cardiac arrest and call emergency services. —Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's magazine, 19 Aug. 2019

Cleveland then continued to show signs of agonal breathing. —Greg Larose, NOLA.com, 1 Feb. 2018

Word History

Etymology

agony + -al entry 1

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for agonal

• diagonal
• hexagonal
• octagonal
• tetragonal

Medical Definition

agonal

adjective

ag·​o·​nal ˈag-ən-ᵊl 

: of, relating to, or associated with the act of dying : occurring just before death

… the chemical changes in the blood during the agonal state …

—The Journal of the American Medical Association

Kennedy had a very weak pulse and was experiencing what's called agonal breathing, labored, gasping, the body's final attempts to sustain life.

—Deanna Watson