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cautery

[kaw-tuh-ree]
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noun, plural cau·ter·ies.
  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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Origin of cautery

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cautērium < Greek kautḗrion, equivalent to kautḗr branding iron (see cauterize) + -ion diminutive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cautery

Historical Examples

  • They tell me the cautery, if dexterously applied, is better; but I have not tried it.

    The Fortunes Of Glencore

    Charles James Lever

  • If the spurting blood should cool the cautery, take another.

  • The cancer had taken firm hold, and was beyond the reach of any cautery.

  • The cautery may, if necessary, be reintroduced several times.

    Lameness of the Horse

    John Victor Lacroix

  • There are some diseases so terrible that they must be cured by the knife and the cautery.

    The Battle of Principles

    Newell Dwight Hillis

British Dictionary definitions for cautery

cautery

noun plural -teries
  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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Word Origin

C14: from Old French cautère, from Latin cautērium; see cauterize
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 cautery

n.

1540s, from Latin cauterium "branding iron," from Greek kauterion (see cauterize).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cautery in Medicine

cautery

(kô′tə-rē)
n.
  1. An agent or instrument used to destroy tissue by burning, searing, cutting, or scarring, including caustic substances, electric currents, and lasers.
  2. The act or process of cauterizing.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
cautery in Science

cautery

[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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.