probe

probe definition - medical

probe (prōb)

noun
  1. A slender, flexible surgical instrument with a blunt bulbous tip, used to explore a wound or body cavity.
  2. A substance, such as DNA, that is radioactively labeled or otherwise marked and used to detect or identify another substance in a sample.
verb
To explore a wound or body cavity with a probe.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.