cautery

[ kaw-tuh-ree ]

/ ˈkɔ tə ri /

noun, plural cau·ter·ies.

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

the process of destroying tissue with a cautery.

Nearby words

caustic potash, caustic soda, caustic surface, cauterant, cauterize, cautery, caution, caution money, cautionary, cautious, cauvery

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for cautery

Here the beneficial action of the cautery and the blister may be largely problematical.
Diseases of the Horse's Foot|Harry Caulton Reeks
There the doctor advised a cautery over the cheek as far as the eyebrow of the eye that was in worse state.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
Hypnotism and ansthetics may produce insensibility to pain, but do not interfere with the cautery.
Magic and Religion|Andrew Lang
The method of ligature is so simple and safe that the cautery for this purpose has been long abandoned.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4)|Various

In cautery, the area where fire is to be placed is marked with ink in the shape of a myrtle leaf.
Drawings and Pharmacy in Al-Zahrawi's 10th-Century Surgical Treatise|Sami Hamarneh

British Dictionary definitions for cautery

cautery

/ (ˈkɔːtərɪ) /

noun plural -teries

the coagulation of blood or destruction of body tissue by cauterizing

Also called: cauterant an instrument or chemical agent for cauterizing

Word Origin for cautery

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

Medicine definitions for cautery

cautery

[ kô′tə-rē ]

n.

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

The act or process of cauterizing.

Science definitions for cautery

cautery

[ kô′tə-rē ]

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