: a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery
Examples of scalpel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebWisps of smoke rise from the pig's belly as Haller makes an incision with an electric scalpel.—Rob Stein, NPR, 12 Apr. 2024 As the doctors began the painstaking process of removing the mass — an orchestrated flurry of fingers tying knots, scalpels slicing flesh, cautery pens searing blood vessels shut — the room grew thick with anticipation.—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 This is surgery without scalpels or sutures, just a syringe pushing particles containing CRISPR into the vein that connects a pregnant person to the fetus.—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 The newfound skulls showed signs of both medical practices — including scalpel grooves and saw cuts — reinforcing their common use in past centuries, researchers said.—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024 Items including scalpels for delivering babies, water desalination equipment, generators, oxygen tanks and tents with metal poles have been rejected, aid workers say, sometimes without explanation from Israeli authorities.—Claire Parker, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2024 In fetal surgery, the slightest squeeze or tilt of a scalpel can be the difference between life and death.—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 And whose generation? Stewart, 61, certainly was, taking a scalpel to politicians and, don’t forget, the media that covered them, during his first run as host, which began in 1999.—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 25 Jan. 2024 Tools commonly left behind included surgical swabs, clamps, drill bits, scalpels, and, in one case, even part of a pair of wire cutters.—Matt Benoit, Discover Magazine, 19 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scalpel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin scalpellus, scalpellum, diminutive of scalper, scalprum chisel, knife, from scalpere to scratch, carve
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