1
: a state of profound unconsciousness caused by disease, injury, or poison
2
: a state of mental or physical sluggishness : torpor
plural comae
ˈkō-ˌmē 
-ˌmī
1
: a tufted bunch (as of branches, bracts, or seed hairs)
2
: the head of a comet consisting of a cloud of gas and dust and usually containing a nucleus
3
: an optical aberration in which the image of a point source is a comet-shaped blur
Examples of coma in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 May 2025
The legal action stems from a fatal car crash that left the woman severely injured and in a coma, and her son dead.
—Jennifer Rodriguez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 May 2025
Called home after a car crash puts his father in a coma, Roman soon finds out that his younger brother, Dante, is in serious debt to the town’s notorious gang, the Black Baron Boys—and that the car wreck might not have been an accident.
—The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
The children’s parents were among four people taken to a La Jolla hospital, where their father was in a coma.
—Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for coma
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Noun
The lack of oxygen to his brain caused irreversible damage and left him in a coma.
—Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 May 2025
The legal action stems from a fatal car crash that left the woman severely injured and in a coma, and her son dead.
—Jennifer Rodriguez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 May 2025
Called home after a car crash puts his father in a coma, Roman soon finds out that his younger brother, Dante, is in serious debt to the town’s notorious gang, the Black Baron Boys—and that the car wreck might not have been an accident.
—The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
The children’s parents were among four people taken to a La Jolla hospital, where their father was in a coma.
—Alexandra Mendoza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for coma
Cite this Entry
“Coma.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coma. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
coma
1 of 2 noun
co·ma
ˈkō-mə
: a sleeplike state of unconsciousness caused by disease, injury, or poison
coma
2 of 2 noun
plural comae
-ˌmē
-ˌmī
: the head of a comet made up of a cloud of gas and dust and usually containing a nucleus
Etymology
Noun
scientific Latin, from Greek kōma "deep sleep"
Noun
from Latin coma "hair," from Greek komē "hair" — related to comet
Medical Definition
coma
noun
co·ma
ˈkō-mə
: a state of profound unconsciousness caused by disease, injury, or poison
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