amputation
Americannoun
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amputations
plural
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the act or instance of surgically removing a limb or part of a limb.
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the act of removing something by cutting, as if by surgery.
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a disability caused by the loss of a limb or part of a limb.
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Medicine/Medical. any absence or loss of a limb or part of a limb, whether congenitally or due to surgery or disease.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Natalie Wood is taken to the Fillmore Animal Hospital for amputation surgery due to her extensively fractured back leg, which would have cost at least $8,000 to try to heal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Former Kaiser CEO George Halvorson has written that if a diabetic in a Medicare Advantage plan requires a foot amputation, that will likely cost the plan $100,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Doctors discovered he had sepsis, and a month later he needed a double amputation.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
All we’re doing is increasing the likelihood of an above-the-knee amputation.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Diabetes can mean blindness, amputation, and early death.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
At least 200 people have undergone amputations -- almost half of whom are minors -- according to the NGO Dos Santos Foundation, which is raising funds for prosthetics.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
In Medicare Advantage, the number of amputations is a tiny fraction of that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Most significantly, amputations among the intensive-management group dropped to virtually zero.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
Jenn Hall, National Director at Diabetes Scotland, explained that minor foot problems can lead to ulcers, infections and, at worst, amputations for people with diabetes.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
Union general Carl Schurz witnessed amputations being performed at a field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
