amputate

[ am-pyoo-teyt ]

/ ˈæm pyʊˌteɪt /

verb (used with object), am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.

to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery.

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

Obsolete. to prune, as branches of trees.

Nearby words

ampullar, ampullar pregnancy, ampullary crest, ampullitis, ampullula, amputate, amputation, amputation in continuity, amputation neuroma, amputee, ampycus

Origin of amputate

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

Related forms

am·pu·ta·tion, nounam·pu·ta·tive, adjectiveam·pu·ta·tor, nounnon·am·pu·ta·tion, noun

post·am·pu·ta·tion, adjectiveself-am·pu·ta·tion, nounun·am·pu·tat·ed, adjectiveun·am·pu·ta·tive, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for amputation

One year after the Boston bombing, a maimed survivor faces the choice of amputation.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, April 12, 2014||April 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
KIEV, Ukraine—Outside Kiev, outside Ukraine, academics can ask if the country might be better off after the amputation of Crimea.
Ukraine Hunts for a Scapegoat|Anna Nemtsova|March 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like Lewis, Huxley lost his wife to cancer; he said it was like ‘an amputation’.
Three Great Men Died That Day: JFK, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley|John Garth|November 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In some cases, Roth said, amputation is the only solution to “fixing” horrible infections or deformities.
Illegal Butt Injections Are on the Rise and Women Are at Risk|Lizzie Crocker, Caitlin Dickson|October 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Gangrene is not curable by current medical intervention once past a certain point in its progression, except by amputation.
Can Meditation Cure Disease?|Maureen Seaberg|December 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST
One poor fellow had his ears slit, and another received injuries which rendered the amputation of an arm necessary.
Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan|William Taylor
A successful excision, especially in arm, saves a limb nearly perfect; an amputation at best is only the stump for a wooden one.
A Manual of the Operations of Surgery|Joseph Bell
Amputation and death stared its members in their gloomy faces.
Elsie's Winter Trip|Martha Finley
Shady viewed this amputation closely and whined with anxiety as it proceeded.
The Yellow Horde|Hal G. Evarts
The preservation of the skin is therefore a cardinal principle in the amputation of all parts in which it is at all feasible.
Special Report on Diseases of Cattle|U.S. Department of Agriculture

British Dictionary definitions for amputation

amputate

/ (ˈæmpjʊˌteɪt) /

verb

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

Derived Formsamputation, nounamputator, noun

Word Origin for amputate

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

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

Medicine definitions for amputation (1 of 2)

amputation

[ ăm′pyu-tā′shən ]

n.

Surgical removal of all or part of a limb, an organ, or projecting part or process of the body.

Traumatic or spontaneous loss of a limb, organ, or part.

Medicine definitions for amputation (2 of 2)

amputate

[ ăm′pyu-tāt′ ]

v.

To cut off a part of the body, especially by surgery.

amputate

verb (used with object), am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of amputate

Examples from the Web for amputation

British Dictionary definitions for amputation

amputate

verb

Word Origin for amputate

Medicine definitions for amputation (1 of 2)

amputation

n.

Medicine definitions for amputation (2 of 2)

amputate

v.