the process whereby blood is converted from a liquid to a solid state. The process may be initiated by contact of blood with a foreign surface (intrinsic system) or with damaged tissue (extrinsic system). These systems involve the interaction of a variety of substances (coagulation factors) and lead to the production of the enzyme thrombin, which converts the soluble blood protein fibrinogen to the insoluble protein fibrin. Blood coagulation is an essential mechanism for the arrest of bleeding (haemostasis).
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the sequential process by which the multiple coagulation factors of the blood interact in the coagulation cascade, ultimately resulting in the formation of an insoluble fibrin clot. See also extrinsic, intrinsic, and common pathways of coagulation.Medical dictionary. 2011.