trit-

Of or pertaining to particles worn away from some solid body: As a result of water erosion, there was a detrital pile of sand and gravel at the foot of the waterfall.

1. Descriptive of something that has been worn or ground away: The detrited stones along the banks of the river were the smoothest that Adam had seen during his hiking adventures.
2. In geology, disintegrated; a reference to loose fragments or grains that have been removed by gradual attrition from rocks: The strong winds across the desert created detrited particles of sand which accumulated into dunes or hills that shifted across the desert area.

1. The process of wearing something away by friction or wear, or by scraping one object against another one: Dr. Kilfoil was concerned about the degree of detrition in Jackie's mouth and recommended that she wear a night guard for her teeth.
2. The act of attrition; such as, the wearing of stones by wind, water, or ice: Tammy and Tom collected some beautiful beach pebbles which were smoothed down by detritions.

Feeding on fragmented particulate or eating very small pieces, or particles, of organic matter: The unusual fish, known as a detritivore, is a bottom feeder in the slow moving water of the stream.

All species of life eventually die, and detritivores are a class of organisms that feed on dead bodies.

The various kinds of detritivores can themselves be divided into a food web, based on the feeding relationships among the species. In this sense, primary detritivores feed directly on the dead biomass, while secondary detritivores feed on these direct consumers of detritus.

1. A reference to creatures that eat dead organic tissues and organisms in an ecosystem: Desert buzzards are detritivorous birds, feeding on dead animals; such as, road kill or an animal accidentally killed by a passing vehicle.
2. Descriptive of feeding on fragmented particulate (particles) of organic matter: A certain species of fish were the most detritivorous in the small river, feeding off algae and other organic matter that accumulated on the bottom of the stream.
3. Pertaining to organisms which consume particulate substances as a means of existence important in certain ecosystems; such as, in aquatic environments: The water in the lake is kept clean by the detritivorous cleaning behavior of some of the fish that exist there.

1. Fragmented particulate of organic matter, or very small pieces of natural matter, derived from the decomposition of plant and animal remains; organic trash: By the end of winter, there is a lot of organic detritus that has accumulated in the yard which requires the gardener to clean up before planting flowers.
2. Discarded material: A lot of detritus, thrown into rivers by people, end up on the banks of the water ways and there are some efforts made to clean such exposed areas by professionals and by volunteers who want to maintain a better environment.
3. In geology, matter produced by the wearing away of exposed surfaces, especially gravel, sand, clay, or other material eroded and washed away by an aqueous agency; a mass or formation of this nature: Glacial grit is rock detritus that is so finely pulverized that it is suspended in the water and will not settle or separate.
4. In ecology, the organic decomposition of plants and animals: The soft ground in the forest is considered to be part of the detritus caused by the breaking down of nonchemical matter.

The breaking up of kidney stones by applying an electric discharge directly to them: The electrohydraulic lithotripsy crushes a stone, or stones, within the urinary system and the fragments are immediately removed by the patient urinating them out.

Someone who is skilled in the process of crushing and extracting stones located in the kidney or bladder: Isaac had to be treated by a lithotripist in order to get rid of the mineral crystals that were causing intense pain in his lower back and urinary tract infections.

1. A procedure of comminuting or pulverizing a stone in the urinary bladder, or urethra, into small particles that can be passed out by urine: Lithotripsy was formerly done only surgically but it can now be accomplished by various noninvasive methods; such as, using a device that passes shock waves through a water-filled tub in which the patient sits.
2. The crumbling of a urinary calculus or gallstone within the body, followed at once by the washing out the fragments: The stone fragments that result from lithotripsy become small enough to be expelled during the urination process.

A device that pulverizes kidney stones and gallstones by passing shock waves through a water-filled tub in which the patient sits: The lithotripter machine, or the lithotripter tool, breaks up any kidney stones by using ultrasound shock waves.

A reference to an agent which effects the dissolution of a calculus, or calculi: Dr. Hillman and other doctors are now utilizing lithotriptic shock waves to break up kidney stones without having to use surgical intervention.

A device for breaking up renal calculi (kidney stones): A lithotripter administers a high-energy shock wave that disintegrates stones which are then passed out in the urine.

A surgical instrument which is used to pulverize a bladder calculus, or calculi, with direct visibility: By using the lithotriptoscope, a medical technician can see the stones in the bladder or kidney and break them up into very small particles which can then be washed out by the patient when he or she urinates.

A kind of surgical procedure in which bladder stones are comminuted and flushed out by seeing them clearly with the device that is being used: Ted's doctor arranged for him to have a lithotriptoscopy to get rid of the renal calculus that was causing so much pain in his kidney.

A surgical instrument designed to smash or to fragment stones; such as might be found in the bladder, and thereby facilitate spontaneous or operative removal: A lithotrite makes it possible to urinate minute particles through the urethra.