trepan

¹

[ trih-pan ]

noun

1. a tool for cutting shallow holes by removing a core.
2. Surgery. an obsolete form of the trephine resembling a carpenter's bit and brace.

verb (used with object)

, tre·panned, tre·pan·ning.

1. Machinery. to cut circular disks from (plate stock) using a rotating cutter.
2. Surgery. to operate upon with a trepan; trephine.

trepan

²

[ trih-pan ]

noun

1. a person who ensnares or entraps others.
2. a stratagem; a trap.

verb (used with object)

, tre·panned, tre·pan·ning.

1. to ensnare or entrap.
2. to entice.
3. to cheat or swindle.

trepan

¹

/ trɪˈpæn; trəˈpæn /

verb

1. to entice, ensnare, or entrap
2. to swindle or cheat

noun

1. a person or thing that traps

trepan

²

/ trɪˈpæn; ˌtrɛpəˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. surgery an instrument resembling a carpenter's brace and bit formerly used to remove circular sections of bone (esp from the skull) Compare trephine
2. a tool for cutting out circular blanks or for making grooves around a fixed centre
3. 1. the operation of cutting a hole with such a tool
   2. the hole so produced

verb

1. to cut (a hole or groove) with a trepan
2. surgery another word for trephine

Derived Forms

• treˈpanner, noun
• trepanation, noun

Other Words From

• trep·a·na·tion [trep-, uh, -, ney, -sh, uh, n], noun
• tre·panner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of trepan¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun trepane, from Middle French trepan “surgical crown saw,” from Medieval Latin trepanum, from Greek trȳ́panon “borer,”verb derivative of the noun

Origin of trepan²

First recorded in 1635–45; earlier trapan; of obscure origin; perhaps a derivative of trap ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of trepan¹

C17: of uncertain origin

Origin of trepan²

C14: from Medieval Latin trepanum rotary saw, from Greek trupanon auger, from trupan to bore, from trupa a hole

Example Sentences

The learned doctors held a consultation, and resolved to trepan the skull and extract the worm.

From Project Gutenberg

Figs. 141 to 146 are of the connections to the trepan and spears or rods.

From Project Gutenberg

If our Vulcans now-a-days were to trepan the heads of our Jupiters, they would find nothing in them!

From Project Gutenberg

The sheep necessarily dies at last, unless we remove the parasite by means of the trepan.

From Project Gutenberg

The surgical trepan is a different word altogether, and belongs to Greco-Lat.

From Project Gutenberg