electrocautery

[ ih-lek-troh-kaw-tuh-ree ]

/ ɪˌlɛk troʊˈkɔ tə ri /

noun, plural e·lec·tro·cau·ter·ies. Medicine/Medical.

a handheld, needlelike cautery heated by an electric current.

Also e·lec·tro·cau·ter·i·za·tion. the process of cutting and cauterizing skin simultaneously, or coagulating blood from vessels around a surgical incision, by means of an electrocautery.

Nearby words

electrocaloric effect, electrocardiogram, electrocardiograph, electrocardiography, electrocauterization, electrocautery, electrocerebral silence, electrochemical, electrochemical cell, electrochemical equivalent, electrochemical series

Origin of electrocautery

First recorded in 1880–85; electro- + cautery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for electrocautery

electrocautery

/ (ɪˌlɛktrəʊˈkɔːtərɪ) /

noun

vet science the use of an electrically heated metal instrument for cautery

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 electrocautery

electrocautery

[ ĭ-lĕk′trō-kô′tə-rē ]

n.

An instrument for directing a high-frequency current through a local area of tissue.

A metal cauterizing instrument heated by electricity.

The cauterization of tissue by means of one of these instruments.