cauterize
verb
cau·ter·ize
ˈkȯ-tə-ˌrīz 
cauterized; cauterizing
1
: to sear with a cautery or caustic
cauterize a wound
2
: to make insensible : deaden
They will do anything to stay in office; their consciences have been cauterized.
Examples of cauterize in a Sentence
The doctors cauterized the wound.
time had cauterized his bitterness, and he was willing to let bygones be bygones
Recent Examples on the Web
In making a film about the past set in the present, Saint-Martin formulates an indictment on his country’s unhealed wounds, which rather than cauterize with time, remain open since the festering corruption and abuse of power that obscured the truth around the students’ deaths, remains in place.
—
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 19 Nov. 2025
In an effort to cauterize the conflict, which has been festering for the better part of a decade, Bessent said Trump plans to visit Xi in Beijing in early 2026, while the Chinese president is slated to attend the G20 Summit in Florida at one of Trump’s properties next December.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 27 Oct. 2025
To plug it closed, his surgeon had to cauterize the hole with a red-hot iron.
—Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
When Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is wounded in the Arctic while working on a story, the ever-ready hero emerges from nowhere, ready to cauterize her wound with his X-ray eyes.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cauterize
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Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 19 Nov. 2025
In an effort to cauterize the conflict, which has been festering for the better part of a decade, Bessent said Trump plans to visit Xi in Beijing in early 2026, while the Chinese president is slated to attend the G20 Summit in Florida at one of Trump’s properties next December.
—Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 27 Oct. 2025
To plug it closed, his surgeon had to cauterize the hole with a red-hot iron.
—Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
When Amy Adams’ Lois Lane is wounded in the Arctic while working on a story, the ever-ready hero emerges from nowhere, ready to cauterize her wound with his X-ray eyes.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cauterize
Cite this Entry
“Cauterize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cauterize. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cauterize
verb
cau·ter·ize
ˈkȯt-ə-ˌrīz
cauterized; cauterizing
: to burn with a hot iron or a chemical substance usually to destroy infected tissue
cauterize a wound
Medical Definition
cauterize
transitive verb
cau·ter·ize
variants
or British cauterise
cauterized or British cauterised; cauterizing or British cauterising
: to sear with a cautery or caustic
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