blood work

noun

variants or less commonly bloodwork

ˈbləd-ˌwərk 

: the diagnostic testing of blood

Some of the kids had blood work done to look at their glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol levels, which are markers for the risk of type 2 diabetes and future cardiovascular disease.

—Nanci Hellmich

Something else in her blood work intrigued the doctor: nearly half of the white cells seen were a single type of infection-fighting cell—eosinophils.

—Lisa Sanders

Examples of blood work in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Moss went on to advise men to be vigilant about their own health, encouraging his followers to submit to regular medical screening and blood work. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 6 Dec. 2024

Liam's mother, Phylicia Keen, reported that chest X-rays and blood work came back good, according to KDFW. —Kyle Schmidbauer, Fox News, 11 Nov. 2024

Doctors use a combination of symptoms and blood work in deciding whom to treat. —Akshay Syal, M.d., NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024

That could include blood work to measure your white and red blood cell counts and potentially to look for substances that can signify cancer, as well as imaging (for instance, an ultrasound, CT scan, or PET scan) to check out what’s going on inside your lymph node(s). —Erica Sloan, SELF, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

blood work

noun

variants also bloodwork

: the diagnostic testing of blood

The medical team immediately jumped into action ordering blood work and a chest X-ray, placing an IV line and administering antibiotics.

—Kiran Gupta, The Boston Globe