appendectomy
Americannoun
-
appendectomies
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of appendectomy
First recorded in 1890–95; append(ix) + -ectomy
Explanation
An appendectomy is an operation in which a surgeon removes your appendix. If your appendix is inflamed or infected, you'll probably need an appendectomy. Your appendix is a small part of your digestive system — it's not uncommon for it to grow inflamed and enlarged, a painful situation that can become dangerous without an emergency appendectomy. The first successful appendectomy was performed in the early 1700s, though the word for the procedure wasn't coined until 1891. The root is the Latin appendix, "an addition" or "something attached."
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:
In fact, one of my co-workers, who is a single mom with two kids, recently had an emergency appendectomy and was trying to work the next day, and we were all encouraging her to rest.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
The 76ers’ Joel Embiid missed the first several games of this year’s playoffs while he recovered from an emergency appendectomy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Gibson missed the start of the season after undergoing emergency appendectomy surgery in September.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2024
Bearman, standing in for Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard underwent an appendectomy, became at 18 years old the youngest British driver in F1 history, and the third youngest ever.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2024
Representative Henry Barnhart of Indiana was carried in on a stretcher from a Washington, DC, hospital after an appendectomy; he stayed just long enough to vote.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Some of the most common procedures involving robotics include appendectomies, hysterectomies, and gastric bypasses.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2024
But bodies go through irreversible changes all the time, from puberty and aging to appendectomies and tonsillectomies.
From The Verge ● Jul. 30, 2021
She soon noticed that other female patients bore fresh scars along their lower abdomens, which doctors explained as the result of appendectomies.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2019
Weekly, he visits with children undergoing procedures from emergency appendectomies to chemotherapy for cancer.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 2, 2016
In hospitals in which the reimbursement rates for appendectomies ran higher, for instance, the surgeons removed more appendixes.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
