cautery

American  

[kaw-tuh-ree] / ˈkɔ tə ri /

noun

cauteries plural

1. an escharotic substance, electric current, or hot iron used to destroy tissue.

2. the process of destroying tissue with a cautery.

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cautery British  

/ ˈkɔːtərɪ /

noun

1. the coagulation of blood or destruction of body tissue by cauterizing

2. Also called: cauterant.  an instrument or chemical agent for cauterizing

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cautery Scientific  

/ kô′tə-rē /

1. An agent or instrument used to destroy tissue, as in surgery, by burning, searing, cutting, or scarring, including caustic substances, electric currents, and lasers.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cauteries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cautery

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cautērium < Greek kautḗrion, equivalent to kautḗr branding iron ( see cauterize) + -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

The procedure is said to be faster than other ablation techniques like cautery or freezing, and less likely to damage the esophagus, which lies next to the atrium.

From New York Times • Jul. 26, 2021

But if the patient in such a case is the victim of a dogbite, he is all too likely to be subjected to painful cautery, and perhaps scarred for life.

From Time Magazine Archive

As for acupuncture and cautery, six clinics are giving wholesale treatments for more than 200 maladies, including nervous breakdown, chronic rheumatism, headaches, facial paralysis, high blood pressure and menstrual disorders.

From Time Magazine Archive

But President-elect Allen Buckner Kanavel, Chicago, pointed out that coagulation caused by the cautery is more likely to scatter malignant growths than to retard or destroy them.

From Time Magazine Archive

Burning down the nodules with the actual cautery, and subsequently a visit to such baths as Harrogate, Buxton, Homburg and Wiesbaden, may be recommended.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" by Various