scalpel
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- scalpellic adjective
Etymology
Origin of scalpel
1735–45; < Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalprum tool for scraping or paring (derivative of scalpere to scratch); for formation castellum
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.
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
Internal documents show the surgeon’s colleagues felt his behaviour was “questionable” and were “very surprised” he was unable to find a scalpel.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2024
But the more crucial cuts take a scalpel to its core duo’s addictively poisonous dynamic.
From Salon • May 2, 2024
I find the scalpel in her medipak and cut the bandage in two.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
