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scalpel

American  
[skal-puhl] / ˈskæl pəl /

noun

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

scalpel British  
/ ˈskælpəl, skælˈpɛlɪk /

noun

  1. a surgical knife with a short thin blade

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • scalpellic adjective

Etymology

Origin of scalpel

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.