curette

American  

[kyoo-ret] / kyʊˈrɛt /

Also curet

noun

1. a scoop-shaped surgical instrument for removing tissue from body cavities, as the uterus.

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verb (used with object)

curetted, curetting

1. to scrape with a curette.

curette British  

/ kjʊəˈrɛt /

noun

1. a surgical instrument for removing dead tissue, growths, etc, from the walls of certain body cavities

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verb

1. (tr) to scrape or clean with such an instrument

Etymology

Origin of curette

First recorded in 1745–55; from French, equivalent to cur(er) “to cleanse” + -ette feminine noun suffix; see origin at -ette, cure

Example Sentences

Then the uterus itself is scraped with a dull-edged curette, a small spoon-shaped instrument, until all embryonic matter has been removed.

From Time Magazine Archive

In this method, the dermatologist applies a local anesthetic and then scrapes away the soft, mushy tumor cells with a curette, an instrument with a sharp circular blade.

From Time Magazine Archive

By using a small and sharp curette, one is enabled to cleanse the average wound quickly and almost painlessly.

From Lameness of the Horse Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by Lacroix, John Victor

The Médecin Chef took a curette, a little scoop, and scooped away the dead flesh, the dead muscles, the dead nerves, the dead blood-vessels.

From The Backwash of War The Human Wreckage of the Battlefield as Witnessed by an American Hospital Nurse by La Motte, Ellen Newbold

The diseased portion is scraped away either with a curette or with the point of the drawing-knife.

From Diseases of the Horse's Foot by Reeks, Harry Caulton