tenaculum
Americannoun
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Surgery. a small sharp-pointed hook set in a handle, used for seizing and picking up parts in operations and dissections.
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Entomology. a clasplike appendage on the abdomen of a springtail, which holds the springing device in place.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tenaculum
1685–95; < Latin tenāculum instrument for gripping, equivalent to ten ( ēre ) to hold + -ā- (from v. stems ending in -ā-; see gubernaculum) + -culum -cule 2
Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
Males use the tenaculum both for display and function.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
In the fossil record, they also observed evidence of teeth on the tenaculum of related species.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
Using a tenaculum, a scissor-like surgical tool, the physician steadies the cervix.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024
“The parts that hurt for some patients — just placing the speculum is uncomfortable — placing the tenaculum is the first part that's not just pressure that can sometimes feel sharp,” Espey told Salon.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024
In case the end of the bleeding artery has retracted, a sharp-pointed hook, called a tenaculum, is used to draw it out far enough to tie.
From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
On the further side, in front of the window, there was a board which was strewed with glittering instruments—forceps, tenacula, saws, canulas, and trocars.
From Round the Red Lamp by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
On the farther side, in front of the window, there was a board which was strewed with glittering instruments, forceps, tenacula, saws, canulas, and trocars.
From The Man from Archangel and Other Tales of Adventure by Doyle, A. Conan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
