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fleam

American  
[fleem] / flim /

noun

  1. Surgery. a kind of lancet, as for opening veins.

  2. the beveled leading edge of a sawtooth.


fleam British  
/ fliːm /

noun

  1. archaic a lancet used for letting blood

"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

Etymology

Origin of fleam

1375–1425; late Middle English fleme, fleom < Middle French flieme ≪ Late Latin phlebotomus, < Greek phlebotómon; see phlebo-, tome

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Five-bladed fleam said to have been made in Denmark.

From Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology by Appel, Toby

The result of this fleam would be that the tooth, instead of cutting equal and level all the way across as in Fig.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua

The blade was positioned at right angles to the spring and case, thus adopting the basic shape of the fleam.

From Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology by Appel, Toby

These are enlarged versions of the fleam employed in human bloodletting.

From Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology by Appel, Toby

A piece of hard wood loaded at one end with lead, and used to strike the fleam into the vein.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

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