decerebrate

[ verb dee-ser-uh-breyt; noun dee-ser-uh-breyt, -brit ]

verb (used with object)

, de·cer·e·brat·ed, de·cer·e·brat·ing.

1. Surgery. to remove the cerebrum.

noun

1. a decerebrated animal.
2. a person who, because of brain injury, exhibits behavior characteristic of a decerebrated animal.

decerebrate

verb

1. tr to remove the brain or a large section of the brain or to cut the spinal cord at the level of the brain stem of (a person or animal)

noun

1. a decerebrated individual

Derived Forms

• deˌcereˈbration, noun

Other Words From

• de·cere·bration noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of decerebrate¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; de- + cerebr- + -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of decerebrate¹

C19: from de- + cerebro- + -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Mori, S. Integration of posture and locomotion in acute decerebrate cats and in awake, freely moving cats.

From Nature

Before she relaxed in the dusky pallor of death, she had what looked like “decerebrate posturing” — an arching of the neck that occurs as the brain is squeezed through the base of the skull.

From Washington Post

I mention not the levels at all, nor do I speak of "decerebrate metaphysics."

From Project Gutenberg