stylet
Americannoun
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a stiletto or dagger.
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any similar sharp-pointed instrument.
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Medicine/Medical.
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a probe.
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a wire run through the length of a catheter, cannula, or needle to make it rigid or to clear it.
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noun
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surgery
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a wire for insertion into a flexible cannula or catheter to maintain its rigidity or patency during passage
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a slender probe
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zoology any small pointed bristle-like part
Etymology
Origin of stylet
1690–1700; < French < Middle French stilet < Italian stiletto stiletto; -y- < Latin stylus. See style, stylus
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.
Similar to a hypodermic needle, a nematode uses its stylet to pierce cells and pull out food -- in this case from the pseudoscorpion's hypodermis, part of the outer covering known as the integument.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2024
Without the larger reimbursement from installing the pink stylet, doctors would take a wash when purchasing the devices to begin with, making the set harder to sell.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
Mosquitoes then pierce this plastic with their needlelike proboscis called a stylet.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 21, 2020
If you review the film, you can see the long, sharp stylet in the tardigrade’s head.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 16, 2013
On rare occasions it may be deemed desirable to turn the stylet of either forceps in some other direction relative to the handle.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
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.
