scalpel

[ skal-puhl ]

noun

1. a small, light, usually straight knife used in surgical and anatomical operations and dissections.

scalpel

/ ˈskælpəl; skælˈpɛlɪk /

noun

1. a surgical knife with a short thin blade

Derived Forms

• scalpellic, adjective

Other Words From

• scal·pel·lic [skal-, pel, -ik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scalpel¹

1735–45; < Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalprum tool for scraping or paring (derivative of scalpere to scratch); for formation castellum

Word History and Origins

Origin of scalpel¹

C18: from Latin scalpellum, from scalper a knife, from scalpere to scrape

Example Sentences

But, with dry weather forecast, South Africa can wield the scalpel as well as the sledgehammer.

From BBC

Ms Wisniewska then uses a scalpel to make a small hole and inserts a long cannula attached to a suction machine on the floor and begins to suck out fat.

From BBC

The surgeon in the penknife case, who the BBC is not naming, was operating on a patient at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton when he struggled to find a scalpel.

From BBC

The full decision, published by the ITIA,, external states that Naldi cut the finger of his left hand on a scalpel in his treatment bag on 3 March.

From BBC

Enforcing it as Project 2025 envisions could create a de facto federal ban because virtually every abortion requires the use of something, from a scalpel to a pill, once put in the mail.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bayonet
• blade
• cutter
• dagger
• machete
• sickle
• skewer
• sword