scalpel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small knife with a very sharp blade, used especially in surgery and dissection

   The surgeon made a precise incision with a sterile scalpel.

Borrowed from Latin scalpellum ('small knife, surgical knife'), a diminutive related to scalprum ('cutting tool') and scalpere ('to cut, carve, or scratch'). Its form and history both emphasize precise cutting.

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