: a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery
Examples of scalpel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Rather than using a scalpel to collect skin tissue, the sophisticated sticker gathers samples from sensitive areas such as the neck, face and chest.
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Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024
There are too many examples of a chainsaw being inexplicably subbed in for a scalpel to make this effectively work as either dark comedy or darker commentary.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023
Wisps 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
Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024
There are too many examples of a chainsaw being inexplicably subbed in for a scalpel to make this effectively work as either dark comedy or darker commentary.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023
Wisps 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
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Dictionary Entries Near scalpel
Cite this Entry
“Scalpel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalpel. Accessed 7 May. 2024.
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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