ablation
Americannoun
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the removal, especially of organs, abnormal growths, or harmful substances, from the body by mechanical means, as by surgery.
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the reduction in volume of glacial ice, snow, or névé by the combined processes of melting, evaporation, and calving.
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Aerospace. erosion of the protective outer surface ablator of a spacecraft or missile due to the aerodynamic heating caused by travel at hypersonic speed during reentry through the atmosphere.
noun
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the surgical removal of an organ, structure, or part
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the melting or wearing away of an expendable part, such as the heat shield of a space re-entry vehicle on passing through the earth's atmosphere
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the wearing away of a rock or glacier
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The wearing away or destruction of the outer or forward surface of an object, such as a meteorite or a spacecraft, as it moves very rapidly through the atmosphere. The friction of the air striking the object heats and often melts or burns its outer layers. Spacecraft and missiles are often equipped with heat shields designed to wear away by ablation in order to prevent heat from building up in structurally important parts.
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The process by which snow and ice are removed from a glacier or other mass of ice. Ablation typically occurs through melting, sublimation, wind erosion, or calving.
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◆ The ablation zone is the area of a glacier that has the lowest elevation, where annual water loss is greater than the annual accumulation of snow.
Etymology
Origin of ablation
First recorded in 1570–80, ablation is from the Late Latin word ablātiōn- (stem of ablātiō ). See ablate, -ion
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.
Laser therapy, or laser ablation, is a procedure done under local anaesthetic where a laser burns away the abnormal cells.
From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026
That growth was driven by a new technological approach called pulsed field ablation.
From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025
The company said Tuesday that its cardiac ablation products have a “near-term line of sight” to adding $1 billion in revenue to its base business.
From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh will have a cardiac ablation this offseason as well as hip replacement surgery.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2025
Like its Soviet predecessors, the Viking landing maneuver involved an ablation shield, a parachute and retro-rockets.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
