trephine

noun

tre·​phine ˈtrē-ˌfīn 

: a surgical instrument for cutting out circular sections (as of bone or corneal tissue)

trephine transitive verb

Examples of trephine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Surgical set Critical items would have included an amputation saw, tourniquet, trephines (for slicing into the skull), bone forceps, a large amputation knife, several smaller knives and suture needles. —Will McCarthy, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 June 2023

Word History

Etymology

French tréphine, from obsolete English trefine, trafine, from Latin tres fines three ends, from tres three + fines, plural of finis end — more at three

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

trephine

1 of 2 noun

tre·​phine ˈtrē-ˌfīn 

: a surgical instrument for cutting out circular sections (as of bone or corneal tissue)

trephine

2 of 2 transitive verb

tre·​phine ˈtrē-ˌfīn  tri-ˈ 

trephined; trephining

: to operate on with or extract by means of a trephine