amputate
Americanverb (used with object)
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amputates,
present (3rd person singular)
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amputated,
past participle, past
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amputating
present participle
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to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery.
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to prune, lop off, or remove.
Because of space limitations the editor amputated the last two paragraphs of the news report.
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Obsolete. to prune, as branches of trees.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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amputationnoun
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amputatornoun
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nonamputationnoun
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self-amputationnoun
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amputativeadjective
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postamputationadjective
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unamputatedadjective
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unamputativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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amputatesimple
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amputatessimple
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have amputatedperfect
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has amputatedperfect
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am amputatingprogressive
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are amputatingprogressive
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is amputatingprogressive
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have been amputatingperfect progressive
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has been amputatingperfect progressive
Past
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amputatedsimple
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had amputatedperfect
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was amputatingprogressive
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were amputatingprogressive
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had been amputatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of amputate
1630–40; < Latin amputātus pruned, trimmed (past participle of amputāre ), equivalent to am ( bi ) around ( cf. ambi-) + put- trim + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Use the verb amputate when you need to describe the surgical removal of a limb, such as an arm or a leg. For example, a doctor might amputate an accident victim's badly crushed arm. No doubt you hope you'll never have to tell someone that you have to amputate, but if you do make sure you pronounce the word correctly, with the accent on the first syllable: "AM-pyo-tate." Amputate comes from the Latin word amputat-, meaning "lopped off." It can describe the removal of limbs or digits from both humans and animals.
Vocabulary lists containing amputate
Boy: Tales of Childhood
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"Kids Are Inventors, Too"
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"They Speak for Success" and "Breaking the Ice"
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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:
Her husband, Phil, has said that surgeons had been forced to amputate both her legs in an effort to save her.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
His dad said it was a "massive decision" to amputate but having a prosthetic had never held his son back as he learned to walk on a blade.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
He did his best to amputate above the sickly parts in the hope of saving the patient’s life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Not long after, she went through more procedures: one to amputate her damaged limb and another to cut through her neck to retrieve a fishing hook that had migrated to tissue outside the esophagus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
I also learned that Marley had been a Rastafarian, and that Rastafari believe in a “whole body,” which is why he had refused surgery to amputate the toe.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
He gives them scene transplants or amputates a character or administers dialogue transfusions, but somehow these measures never restore these dramas to robust health.
From Time Magazine Archive
Flimsy characterization amputates the play just short of greatness.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bustamante insisted that a voter could not remove the ink and vote more than once "unless he amputates a finger, and if he does, I'll be delighted to let him vote two times, even ten."
From Time Magazine Archive
He tries to kindle a fire When it's forty-five below; He aims to chop at a log And amputates his toe; He hobbles back to the shack And feebly cries out "yah"!
From Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads by Various
It amputates his imagination at its tap root.
From The Lost Art of Reading by Gerald Stanley Lee
Sources close to the duchess said Meghan warned Markle in a letter - sent while he was in hospital in the Philippines after having his leg amputated - that he would never meet his grandchildren.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
He recalled visiting his mother in the hospital during her illness, describing how she hid her leg under a blanket and joked that doctors had mistakenly amputated it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2026
Archival discoveries, including a long-forgotten 19th-century autobiography, are changing how historians understand Shadrack Byfield, an English veteran of the War of 1812 who buried his own amputated arm and later created a custom prosthesis.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
The 17-year-old has since had her leg amputated, joining hundreds more Venezuelans who lost limbs during the devastating twin tremors on June 24.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
When she begins describing his amputated leg, a tear trickles down my face against my will.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
Once serious infection sets in, amputating a foot or limb may be the only option to save a patient’s life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
Procedures that have been performed by staff at Al Shifa under such circumstances have included amputating limbs and fingers, stitching up serious wounds, and treating serious burns, said Abu Selmeyah, without elaborating.
From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2023
A staph infection meant amputating her left foot below the knee in 2017.
From Washington Times ● May 4, 2023
Later, doctors recommended amputating his left leg, his mother said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2022
Taking it away would be like amputating a leg.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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