: a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery
Examples of scalpel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebJudging by the reaction on Sonos’ very active subreddit, yep, the company took a scalpel to things and left a ton of stuff out.—Chris Welch, The Verge, 8 May 2024 In Serbia, Florez escaped her bounds and threatened to hurt Carla by holding a scalpel to her neck.—Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 7 May 2024 Rather than using a scalpel to collect skin tissue, the sophisticated sticker gathers samples from sensitive areas such as the neck, face and chest.—Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Apr. 2024 There are too many examples of a chainsaw being inexplicably subbed in for a scalpel to make this effectively work as either dark comedy or darker commentary.—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023 Wisps of smoke rise from the pig's belly as Haller makes an incision with an electric scalpel.—Rob Stein, NPR, 12 Apr. 2024 As the doctors began the painstaking process of removing the mass — an orchestrated flurry of fingers tying knots, scalpels slicing flesh, cautery pens searing blood vessels shut — the room grew thick with anticipation.—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 This is surgery without scalpels or sutures, just a syringe pushing particles containing CRISPR into the vein that connects a pregnant person to the fetus.—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 The newfound skulls showed signs of both medical practices — including scalpel grooves and saw cuts — reinforcing their common use in past centuries, researchers said.—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scalpel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin scalpellus, scalpellum, diminutive of scalper, scalprum chisel, knife, from scalpere to scratch, carve
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