amputation

American  

[am-pyuh-tay-shuhn, am-pyoo-] / ˌæm pyəˈteɪ ʃən, ˌæm pyʊ- /

noun

1. the act or instance of surgically removing a limb or part of a limb.

2. the act of removing something by cutting, as if by surgery.

3. a disability caused by the loss of a limb or part of a limb.

4. Medicine/Medical. any absence or loss of a limb or part of a limb, whether congenitally or due to surgery or disease.

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Example Sentences

Medical procedures, including a left-leg amputation and tumor removal from his skull, have cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars—a sum surpassing what the potential settlement might yield.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Releford later moved to Los Angeles, where, as a podiatric surgeon specializing in amputation prevention and limb preservation in high-risk populations, he saw firsthand how diet shapes long-term outcomes.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

In a video shared on Monday, she explained her numerous injuries and the surgery that allowed her to avoid an amputation.

From Salon • Feb. 23, 2026

Approximately one in five of these patients will ultimately face an amputation.

From Science Daily • Feb. 22, 2026

Her finger had found little hard lumps there, and Tariq had told her they were spurs of bone that sometimes grew after an amputation.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini