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cauterize

[kaw-tuh-rahyz]
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verb (used with object), cau·ter·ized, cau·ter·iz·ing.
  1. to burn with a hot iron, electric current, fire, or a caustic, especially for curative purposes; treat with a cautery.
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Also especially British, cau·ter·ise.

Origin of cauterize

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin cautērizāre to brand, equivalent to cautēr- (< Greek kautḗr branding iron, equivalent to kau-, variant stem of kaíein to burn (cf. caustic), + -tēr agent suffix) + -izāre -ize
Related formscau·ter·i·za·tion, nounun·cau·ter·ized, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cauterize

Historical Examples

  • He can take nothing away, but only cauterize and neutralize, he says, so why not let him try?

    Death of a Spaceman

    Walter M. Miller

  • I had no caustic with me, so I determined to cauterize it with boiling grease.

  • Besides this, they also bleed the patient and cauterize the wound.

  • Well, I offered to cauterize it with the poker in the office stove.

  • Take care, he says, not to cauterize the nerves in the neighborhood, for this will add a new ailment to the patient's affection.

British Dictionary definitions for cauterize

cauterize

cauterise

verb
  1. (tr) (esp in the treatment of a wound) to burn or sear (body tissue) with a hot iron or caustic agent
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Derived Formscauterization or cauterisation, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French cauteriser, from Late Latin cautērizāre, from cautērium branding iron, from Greek kautērion, from kaiein to burn
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

Word Origin and History for cauterize

v.

c.1400, from Old French cauterisier, from Late Latin cauterizare "to burn or brand with a hot iron," from Greek kauteriazein, from kauter "burning or branding iron," from kaiein "to burn" (see caustic). Related: Cauterized; cauterizing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cauterize in Medicine

cauterize

(kô′tə-rīz′)
v.
  1. To burn or sear with a cautery.
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Related formscau′ter•i•za′tion (-tər-ĭ-zā′shən) n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
cauterize in Science

cauterize

[kô′tə-rīz′]
  1. To burn or sear with a cautery, as in surgical procedures.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.