The rate at which solid particles are deposited from a solution, measured especially in a centrifuge.
A nonspecific laboratory test used as a marker of inflammation. In this test, the speed at which erythrocytes settle out of unclotted blood is measured. Blood to which an anticoagulant has been added is placed in a long, narrow tube, and the distance the red cells fall in 1 hr is the ESR. Normally, it is less than 10 mm/hr in men and slightly higher in women.