cath·e·ter

[kath-i-ter]
noun Medicine/Medical.
a flexible or rigid hollow tube employed to drain fluids from body cavities or to distend body passages, especially one for passing into the bladder through the urethra to draw off urine or into the heart through a leg vein or arm vein for diagnostic examination.
Origin:
1595–1605; < Late Latin < Greek kathetḗr kind of tube, literally, something sent or let down, equivalent to kathe- (variant stem of kathiénai, equivalent to kat- cata- + hiénai to send, let go) + -tḗr agent suffix

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Catheter is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
catheter (ˈkæθɪtə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
med a long slender flexible tube for inserting into a natural bodily cavity or passage for introducing or withdrawing fluid, such as urine or blood
 
[C17: from Late Latin, from Greek kathetēr, from kathienai to send down, insert]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

catheter
c.1600, from Fr. cathéter, from L.L. catheter "a catheter," from Gk. kathienai "to let down, thrust in," from kata "down" + stem of hienai "to send." Related: Catheterization (c.1850).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

catheter cath·e·ter (kāth'ĭ-tər)
n.
A hollow, flexible tube inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway; its many uses include the diagnosis of heart disorders when inserted through a blood vessel into the heart.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
catheter   (kāth'ĭ-tər)  Pronunciation Key 
A hollow, flexible tube inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel to allow the passage of fluids or distend a passageway.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
catheter [(kath-uh-tuhr)]

A thin tube inserted into one of the channels or blood vessels in the body to remove fluids, create an opening into an internal cavity, or administer injections.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Instead, the defects are repaired through a catheter inserted in the groin.
By the insertion of hollow tubes over the needles, the catheter track is
  stretched to about one-half inch in diameter.
Although surgery may be used to treat it, a nonsurgical technique called
  catheter ablation is becoming increasingly popular.
Broun wrote two books by expelling air through a catheter that activated the
  keyboard of a computer.
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