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trepan1

[trih-pan]
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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.
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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.
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Origin of trepan1

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English trepane < Middle French trepan crown saw < Medieval Latin trepanum < Greek trȳ́panon borer, akin to trŷpa hole, trȳpân to bore; (v) late Middle English trepanen, derivative of the noun
Related formstrep·a·na·tion [trep-uh-ney-shuh n] /ˌtrɛp əˈneɪ ʃən/, nountre·pan·ner, noun

trepan2

[trih-pan]Archaic.
noun
  1. a person who ensnares or entraps others.
  2. a stratagem; a trap.
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verb (used with object), tre·panned, tre·pan·ning.
  1. to ensnare or entrap.
  2. to entice.
  3. to cheat or swindle.
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Also tra·pan [truh-pan] /trəˈpæn/.

Origin of trepan2

1635–45; earlier trapan, equivalent to trap1 + -an < ?
Related formstrep·a·na·tion, trap·a·na·tion [trep-uh-ney-shuh n] /ˌtrɛp əˈneɪ ʃən/, nountre·pan·ner, tra·pan·ner, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

augerpunchimplementbitgimlettrephinetrepanborerriveterawlwimblecorkscrewjackhammerdibblecountersink

Examples from the Web for trepan

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for trepan

trepan1

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
    1. the operation of cutting a hole with such a tool
    2. the hole so produced
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verb -pans, -panning or -panned (tr)
  1. to cut (a hole or groove) with a trepan
  2. surgery another word for trephine
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Derived Formstrepanation (ˌtrɛpəˈneɪʃən), nountrepanner, noun

Word Origin

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

trepan2

trapan (trəˈpæn)

verb -pans, -panning or -panned (tr)
  1. to entice, ensnare, or entrap
  2. to swindle or cheat
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noun
  1. a person or thing that traps
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Word Origin

C17: of uncertain origin
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

Word Origin and History for trepan

v.

c.1400, from French trépaner (14c.), from Medieval Latin trepanum "a saw for cutting out small pieces of bone from the skull," from Greek trypanon, from trypan "to bore," related to trype "hole" (cf. Old Church Slavonic truplu "hollow"), from PIE root *tere- "to rub, turn" (see throw). Related: Trepanned; trepanning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
trepan in Medicine

trepan

(trĭ-păn′)
n.
  1. A trephine.
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v.
  1. To trephine.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.