amputate
[am-pyoo-teyt]
- 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.
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Origin of amputate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for amputation
Contemporary Examples
One year after the Boston bombing, a maimed survivor faces the choice of amputation.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, April 12, 2014April 12, 2014
KIEV, Ukraine—Outside Kiev, outside Ukraine, academics can ask if the country might be better off after the amputation of Crimea.
Like Lewis, Huxley lost his wife to cancer; he said it was like ‘an amputation’.
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 RiskLizzie Crocker, Caitlin Dickson
October 13, 2012
Gangrene is not curable by current medical intervention once past a certain point in its progression, except by amputation.
Historical Examples
The amputation, the incision, the probing had to be done then and there, on the instant.
Charles Carleton CoffinWilliam Elliot Griffis, D. D.
As Mrs. Spencer had explained to Glen, there had been some trouble in the amputation.
The Boy Scout Treasure HuntersCharles Henry Lerrigo
After the amputation, Butler lay for twenty-four hours like one dead.
Plantation SketchesMargaret Devereux
Garrison and Phillips proposed the amputation of the diseased limb.
The Blot on the Kaiser's 'ScutcheonNewell Dwight Hillis
If they do begin to fail us, there remains the boundless resource of amputation.
Sophisms of the ProtectionistsFrederic Bastiat
amputate
- surgery to remove (all or part of a limb, esp an arm or leg)
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for amputation
n.
1610s, "a cutting off of tree branches, a pruning," also "operation of cutting off a limb, etc., of a body," from Middle French amputation or directly from Latin amputationem (nominative amputatio), noun of action from past participle stem of amputare "cut off, lop off; cut around, to prune," from am(bi)- "about" (see ambi-) + putare "to prune, trim" (see pave).
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amputate
v.
1630s, back-formation from amputation or else from Latin amputatus, past participle of amputare "to cut off, to prune." Related: Amputated; amputating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
amputation
(ăm′pyu-tā′shən)- 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.
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amputate
(ăm′pyu-tāt′)- To cut off a part of the body, especially by surgery.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.