Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cut off (a projecting body part), especially by surgery.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To prune, as branches or twigs of trees or vines.
- To cut off, as a limb or other part of an animal body; cut away the whole or a part of (more commonly the latter): as, to amputate the leg below the knee.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To prune or lop off, as branches or tendrils.
- v. To cut off (a limb or projecting part of the body)
WordNet 3.0
- v. remove surgically
Etymologies
- Latin amputāre, amputāt-, to cut around : am-, ambi-, around; see ambi- + putāre, to cut; see pau-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Workers were told to tightly wrap the teat with an elastic band in order to "amputate" it.”
“Th 'dern doctor wanted t' amputate 'm, an' Bill, he raised a heluva row, I hear.”
“Three fingers was crunched. Th 'dern doctor wanted t' amputate 'm, an' Bill, he raised a heluva row, I hear.”
“To 'amputate' such wickedness for the future, the letter last preceding has been addressed to the Senate; and the 'Possessores sive curiales' are now invited to state their grievances fully and frankly, or else ever after hold their peace and cultivate a habit of patience.”
“Church abuse cases: Mgr Scicluna speaks on need to 'amputate' to heal ”
“Medical officers had to amputate the leg of one of the boys at the site after he was pulled out due to a severe injury that caused incessant bleeding, health ministry official Azmi Shapie said.”
“Regardless of whether you choose to amputate or simply to shove your surprisingly heavy Ghost of Christmas Past forcefully down the stairs and out the door, you are looking at a pretty major trail of blood needles.”
The Huffington Post: Una LaMarche: They Shoot Christmas Trees, Don't They?
“Errol and his wife realized that there was no alternative but to let doctors amputate his leg. Two more surgeries later—bringing him to a total of seventeen operations—he was confronted by the most difficult obstacle he had ever known: phantom pain.”
“David Cameron will be told that he must not only act ruthlessly to amputate ailing ministers, but also swiftly.”
The Guardian: Reshuffle in haste, Mr Cameron, and you will repent at leisure | Andrew Rawnsley
“Some frostbite if BLACK or Purplish DO NOT handle it it can self amputate.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amputate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 178 more...
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Gristle and Flesh
Words that taste of violence, trauma, blood and brain, gore-some and slippery with vitreous humours. Lovely words, some of them! And the loveliest thing is how many of them are so *effective*, ma...
abattoir, gristle, viscous, eviscerate, ravage, carnage, gouge, claret, slaughterous, sanguinary, laniate, defenestrate and 11 more...
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