: a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery
Examples of scalpel in a Sentence
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Because of this, the forklift-sized scalpel can go from truck to cutting in a fraction of the time traditional methods would take.
—
New Atlas, 18 June 2025
Trump’s tariffs are akin to performing surgery on the economy with a sword rather than a scalpel.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2025
Before the advent of LASIK, surgeons used a scalpel to cut into the cornea.
—Jerome Barthelemy, Harvard Business Review, 13 May 2025
Focused ultrasound can be beamed through the skull and ablate, or surgically remove, tumors without any reliance on a drill or a scalpel.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scalpel
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New Atlas, 18 June 2025
Trump’s tariffs are akin to performing surgery on the economy with a sword rather than a scalpel.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 30 Apr. 2025
Before the advent of LASIK, surgeons used a scalpel to cut into the cornea.
—Jerome Barthelemy, Harvard Business Review, 13 May 2025
Focused ultrasound can be beamed through the skull and ablate, or surgically remove, tumors without any reliance on a drill or a scalpel.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scalpel
Cite this Entry
“Scalpel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalpel. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
scalpel
noun
scal·pel
ˈskal-pəl 
also skal-ˈpel
: a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery
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