verb (used with object), mortified, mortifying. 1. to humiliate or shame, as by injury to one's pride or self-respect. 2. to subjugate (the body, passions, etc.) by abstinence, ascetic discipline, or self-inflicted suffering. 3. Pathology. to affect with gangrene or necrosis. verb (used without object), mortified, mortifying.
spinal tap noun. plural spinal taps. spinal tap. noun. plural spinal taps. Learner's definition of SPINAL TAP. [count] medical. : a procedure in which a needle is inserted into the spinal cord in order to take out fluid or inject medicine.
A lumbar puncture (or LP, and colloquially known as a spinal tap) is a diagnostic and at times therapeutic medical procedure. Diagnostically it is used to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to confirm or exclude conditions such as meningitis and subarachnoid hemorrhage and it may be used in diagnosis of other conditions.