scalpel
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scalpel
1735–45; < Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalprum tool for scraping or paring (derivative of scalpere to scratch); for formation see castellum
Explanation
A scalpel is a special kind of knife used by doctors, particularly surgeons. Scalpels are small, lightweight, and have a fine, sharp blade. Most scalpels used in surgery have extremely sharp, removable blades that can be replaced. When a surgeon uses a scalpel, she holds it using either the "dinner knife" grip, for large incisions, or the "pencil" grip, for smaller cuts. A medical student dissecting an animal also uses a scalpel, and in some cases artists use them for making fine cuts. In Latin, a scalpellum is a "surgical knife," from scalpere, "to carve."
Vocabulary lists containing scalpel
Code Talker
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Salt to the Sea
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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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.
“It’s because governments usually resort to blunt instruments, opting for the bludgeon of sweeping tariffs and subsidies over the scalpel of industrial parks and skills development programs.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
But grab a scalpel and cut 10 minutes out of it and “The Bride!” would be a rip-roaring dazzler.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
Akutagawa, recalled Kurosawa in his memoir, “goes into the depths of the human heart as if with a surgeon’s scalpel, laying bare its dark complexities and bizarre twists.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
A surgeon's scalpel to both knee and hamstring.
From BBC • Jul. 24, 2025
John Coleus certainly caught the virus when he cut himself with a bloody scalpel, no question about that.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
