as in severing
medical
to remove (part of a person's body)
His arm was badly injured and had to be amputated.
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Recent Examples of amputating
Before his death, attempts had been made to save Abrahams by amputating his leg, ITV reported.
—
Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
The main characters, who wake up chained to pipes, quickly realize amputating their own foot is the only means of escape.
—The Atlantic Culture Desk, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2025
What to know about California’s new claw law Declawing a cat involves cutting and amputating the first joint of a cat’s paw — essentially removing the toe, according to the San Francisco SPCA.
—Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
The main characters, who wake up chained to pipes, quickly realize amputating their own foot is the only means of escape.
—The Atlantic Culture Desk, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2025
What to know about California’s new claw law Declawing a cat involves cutting and amputating the first joint of a cat’s paw — essentially removing the toe, according to the San Francisco SPCA.
—Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for amputating
Verb
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In response to howls of protest, the commission has agreed to a 180-day moratorium on severing the ties with PBS.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
23 Mar. 2026
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Beyond the energy shocks, Birol said the war is severing ties to some of the vital arteries of the global economy by disrupting other critical supply chains.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In other words, eliminating them from the animal kingdom would be like yanking an entire tier of Jenga blocks out of the middle of the tower.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
15 Mar. 2026
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The body-camera footage shows Exum yanking the wheel left, toward the Rogue, then right.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Amputating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/amputating. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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