scalpel Hear it!

scalpel definition

scal·pel (skal′pəl)

noun

a small, light, straight knife with a very sharp blade, used by surgeons and in anatomical dissections

Etymology: L scalpellum, dim. of scalprum, a knife < scalpere, to cut < IE base *(s)kel- > scale

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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