Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small straight knife with a thin sharp blade used in surgery and dissection.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small light knife, which may be held like a pen, used in anatomical dissection and in surgical operations, having the back of the blade straight or nearly so, the edge more or less convex, and the point sharp. Such a knife is distinguished from a bistoury. The handle is light and thin, long enough to pass beyond the knuckles when the knife is held iu its usual position, and commonly of bone, ivory, or ebony. A special heavy form of scalpel is called a cartilage-knife.
Wiktionary
- n. A small straight knife with a very sharp blade used for surgery, dissection and craftwork.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Surg.) A small knife with a thin, keen blade, -- used by surgeons, and in dissecting.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a thin straight surgical knife used in dissection and surgery
Etymologies
- Latin scalpellum, from scalprum ("knife"), from scalpere ("to cut"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalper, scalprum, knife, from scalpere, to scratch, cut. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For example, Samuel Eliot Morrison cites the case of the wounded Japanese prisoner who grabbed the scalpel from the hand of the American surgeon trying to save his life and murdered him.”
“The Berkeley Earth team uses a statistical tool it calls a scalpel to cut out data when there is a gap.”
The Wall Street Journal: Global Temperatures: All Over the Map
“An obsidian scalpel is said to be many times sharper than a metal one.”
“Proposition 26 offers a chain saw when a scalpel is required -- vote no.”
“Proposition 26 offers a chain saw when a scalpel is required - vote no.”
“A scalpel is the obvious first tool that comes to mind.”
“Thankfully, the President's proposal doesn't include Social Security or Medicare - but they immediate become the bargaining chips for the negotiations that follow, with some "scalpel"-like benefit cuts likely to be placed on the table.”
“So, now, just to make sure I get it right, if and when I get a girl looking like that to take off my shirt, and she finds out that my abs are somewhat less easy to discover without a scalpel, that is, would she be totally fine with it if I explain that THIS fat belly is NOT caused by smoking but rather by my excessive eating?”
“Congress traditionally makes foreign policy with a machete and not a scalpel, which is why the Founders rightly left most of the foreign policymaking to the Executive branch, but unusual times require unusual approaches.”
Timothy Naftali: Congressional Democrats and a New Foreign Policy
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scalpel’.
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TECH - tools
A very wide category. There are possibly tens of thousands tool words in each of the world's languages.
broom, brush, feather duster, floor buffer, hataki, mop, mop bucket cart, needlegun scaler, pipe cleaner, pressure washer, sandblaster, sponge and 286 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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cutting words
sarcasm, sarx, sarcoptic, syssarcosis, shrew, shrewd, screed, scred, shroud, scroll, scrod, scrutiny and 326 more...
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My Personnal Words List on WordNik
Eloquence, dismay, abolish, Procrastination, hallowed, Audacity, provision, flue gas, perceive, aprodith, cult, mischief and 136 more...
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tools
forceps, speculum, crescent wrench, scalpel, awl, nut splitter, putty knife, tire lever, ratchet, screwdriver, backhoe, crowbar and 3 more...
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introduction to death
words that cause death,or defines death.
detonate, explosive, ammunition, rocket, shrapnel, grenade, nitroglycerin, propellant, fireworks, fuel, combustible, electricity and 62 more...
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Fun to Say
Words that are just fun to say.
obscure, deposit, flicker, xylophone, exacerbate, ejaculate, globular, plethora, bouffant, bulbous, macadamia, gazebo and 16 more...
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Cutting Remarks
Surgical terms.
anastomosis, graft, scalpel, cystoscopy, gastroscopy, colonoscopy, dehiscence, episiotomy, ablation, lobotomy
Tweets
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