hypo

«hypo» in Mova's school dictionary: a short word for hypoglycaemia: when the sugar in a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a hypo, hypos — informal, short form)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, health) A hypo is a short word for hypoglycaemia: when the sugar in a person's blood, especially someone with diabetes, falls too low, making them shaky, sweaty, pale or confused. tree →

2) (informal) Hypo can be short for a hypodermic needle (a syringe). tree →

3) As a prefix, «hypo-» means «under» or «below», as in «hypothermia» (body too cold). tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday safety, if a friend with diabetes says «I'm having a hypo», they need fast sugar such as juice or sweets straight away, and an adult should be told. In science, the prefix «hypo-» appears in words like hypothermia and hypothesis. Common phrases: «have a hypo», «hypo treatment», «hypo kit», «going hypo».

examples

• Lily felt shaky and said she was having a hypo. tree →
• Her hypo kit has jelly sweets and juice. tree →
• When someone has a hypo, give them sugar quickly and tell a teacher. tree →
• He keeps glucose tablets in his bag in case of a hypo. tree →
• Hypothermia means the body is too cold — «hypo» means under. tree →
• The nurse explained what a hypo feels like. tree →

note

Plural: hypos. Informal clipped word (UK, Australia, New Zealand especially). The full word is spelled «hypoglycaemia» (UK) or «hypoglycemia» (USA). The opposite, high blood sugar, is «hyperglycaemia» — «hyper-» means over. Trap: hypo = low, hyper = high.

In the corpora

• A hypo is treated with fast sugar such as glucose tablets or juice, then the level is checked again in 15 minutes.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «hypo» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.