trepan

¹ American  

[trih-pan] / trɪˈpæn /

noun

1. a tool for cutting shallow holes by removing a core.

2. Surgery. an obsolete form of the trephine resembling a carpenter's bit and brace.

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verb (used with object)

trepanned, trepanning

1. Machinery. to cut circular disks from (plate stock) using a rotating cutter.

2. Surgery. to operate upon with a trepan; trephine.

trepan ² American  

[trih-pan] / trɪˈpæn /

Also trapan

noun

1. a person who ensnares or entraps others.

2. a stratagem; a trap.

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verb (used with object)

trepanned, trepanning

1. to ensnare or entrap.

2. to entice.

3. to cheat or swindle.

trepan ¹ British  

/ trɪˈpæn, ˌtrɛpəˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. surgery an instrument resembling a carpenter's brace and bit formerly used to remove circular sections of bone (esp from the skull) Compare trephine

2. a tool for cutting out circular blanks or for making grooves around a fixed centre

3. 1. the operation of cutting a hole with such a tool

   2. the hole so produced

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verb

1. to cut (a hole or groove) with a trepan

2. surgery another word for trephine

trepan ² British  

/ trɪˈpæn, trəˈpæn /

verb

1. to entice, ensnare, or entrap

2. to swindle or cheat

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noun

1. a person or thing that traps

Other Word Forms

• trapanation noun
• trapanner noun
• trepanation noun
• trepanner noun

Etymology

Origin of trepan¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun trepane, from Middle French trepan “surgical crown saw,” from Medieval Latin trepanum, from Greek trȳ́panon “borer,”verb derivative of the noun

Origin of trepan²

First recorded in 1635–45; earlier trapan; of obscure origin; perhaps a derivative of trap ¹

Example Sentences

Marshal Ney had a silver trepan in his skull, a bullet wound in his ankle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fearful things: bonesaws, abdomen retractor, trocar and trepan.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

"But what a thoughtless animal is man,— How very active in his own trepan!"

From The Human Side of Animals by Dixon, Royal

Ballad: The National Anthem A monarch is pestered with cares, Though, no doubt, he can often trepan them; But one comes in a shape he can never escape - The implacable National Anthem!

From Songs of a Savoyard by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir

The royal physicians were called in; and after a stormy consultation, in which the doctors differed, as usual, as to the remedies to be applied, it was determined to trepan the patient.

From History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2 by Prescott, William Hickling