cautery

American  

[kaw-tuh-ree] / ˈkɔ tə ri /

noun

plural

cauteries

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

2. the process of destroying tissue with a cautery.

---

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

---

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.

---

Etymology

Origin of cautery

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cautērium < Greek kautḗrion, equivalent to kautḗr branding iron ( 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

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

Through the second he inserts the electric cautery and a tiny surgical knife.

From Time Magazine Archive

The cautery reaches places which the scalpel cannot touch.*

From Time Magazine Archive

For haemorrhages he used sutures--a little too closely perhaps--styptics, cautery or ligature.

From The Popes and Science The History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time by Walsh, James J.