amputate

[ am-pyoo-teyt ]
See synonyms for: amputateamputated on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.
  1. to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery.

  2. to prune, lop off, or remove: Because of space limitations the editor amputated the last two paragraphs of the news report.

  1. Obsolete. to prune, as branches of trees.

Origin of amputate

1
1630–40; <Latin amputātus pruned, trimmed (past participle of amputāre), equivalent to am(bi) around (cf. ambi-) + put- trim + -ātus-ate1

Other words from amputate

  • am·pu·ta·tion, noun
  • am·pu·ta·tive, adjective
  • am·pu·ta·tor, noun
  • non·am·pu·ta·tion, noun
  • post·am·pu·ta·tion, adjective
  • self-am·pu·ta·tion, noun
  • un·am·pu·tat·ed, adjective
  • un·am·pu·ta·tive, adjective

Words Nearby amputate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use amputate in a sentence

  • He was removed to the rear, and the doctors decided that it was necessary to amputate the right leg.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
  • Will it cripple you seriously to lose that hand; because Im afraid theyll have to amputate when you go down.

    Grapes of wrath | Boyd Cable
  • The thing necessary was to amputate the gangrened limb, and so prevent the disease from attacking the whole body.

  • True, her right leg was broken, and it had been necessary to amputate her left foot in order to save her life.

    Complete Short Works | Georg Ebers
  • For a moment she had a passing dream that some one was trying to amputate her hand with a wood-saw, then it all came back to her.

    Wheat and Huckleberries | Charlotte Marion (White) Vaile

British Dictionary definitions for amputate

amputate

/ (ˈæmpjʊˌteɪt) /


verb
  1. surgery to remove (all or part of a limb, esp an arm or leg)

Origin of amputate

1
C17: from Latin amputāre, from am- around + putāre to trim, prune

Derived forms of amputate

  • amputation, noun
  • amputator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012