incision

[in-sizh-uhn]

noun

1. a cut, gash, or notch.

2. the act of incising.

3. a cutting into, especially for surgical purposes.

4. incisiveness; keenness.

incision

/ ɪnˈsɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of incising

2. a cut, gash, or notch

3. a cut made with a knife during a surgical operation

4. any indentation in an incised leaf

5. rare,  incisiveness

Word History and Origins

Origin of incision¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin incīsiōn- (stem of incīsiō ). See incise, -ion

Example Sentences

Guardiola's best teams have been built on control, patterns of play and attacking incision.

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Fish emerge with a hole in the head and incisions near the gills before being placed in an ice slurry for blood drainage.

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"I just make a small incision, insert the magnet, and it pulls the shrapnel out."

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“They’re calling about their incision sites, which are bleeding. Their child has asthma, and the instructions for the medications are not clear.”

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And when coaches asked about the scar from his procedure, he lifted his shirt to show a long vertical incision running up the length of his chest.

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Related Words

• laceration 

When To Use

What does incision mean?

An incision is a cut made into the body during surgery.Traditionally, incisions are made with surgical instruments like scalpels. However, they can also be made with lasers or robotic tools. Sometimes, incision refers to the scar resulting from such a cut.Incision is the noun form of the verb incise, meaning to cut into. The noun form incision is more commonly used.More generally, incision can refer to any cut or gash, but it is primarily used to refer to surgical incisions.Example: The surgeon explained that she would need to make three small incisions in my abdomen in order to remove my appendix.