trephine

American  

[trih-fahyn, -feen] / trɪˈfaɪn, -ˈfin /

noun

1. a small circular saw with a center pin mounted on a strong hollow metal shaft to which is attached a transverse handle: used in surgery to remove circular disks of bone from the skull.

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verb (used with object)

trephined, trephining

1. to operate upon with a trephine.

trephine British  

/ trɪˈfiːn, ˌtrɛfɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. a surgical sawlike instrument for removing circular sections of bone, esp from the skull

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verb

1. (tr) to remove a circular section of bone from (esp the skull)

Other Word Forms

• trephination noun

Etymology

Origin of trephine

1620–30; spelling variant of trefine, originally trafine, blend of trapan (variant of trepan ¹ ) and Latin phrase trēs fīnēs three ends (the inventor's explanation)

Example Sentences

We aspirated all brain tissue inside the trephine.

From Nature • Mar. 21, 2017

He excises the cornea with a circular saw called a trephine, whose diameter is a shade more than one-sixth of an inch.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sharp point of this she pressed into her scalp over a trephine hole.

From Time Magazine Archive

He has already applied the trephine to the cold-storage eye which an assistant holds by means of sterile gauze.

From Time Magazine Archive

A trephine crown was taken out at the posterior end of the gutter, and the surface of the brain explored, but no fragments of bone were found.

From Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre by Makins, George Henry