Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A knife, chisel, or shears used in dissection for cutting through the costal cartilages and opening the thoracic cavity; a cartilage-knife.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An instrument (chisel or shears) to cut the ribs and open the thoracic cavity, in post-mortem examinations and dissections.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An instrument to cut the ribs and open the thoracic cavity in post mortems.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

costa + Ancient Greek to cut.

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Examples

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