Biopsy

//ˈbaɪɑpsi// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The removal and examination of a sample of tissue, cells, or bodily fluid from a living body for diagnostic purposes.

    "We will need to perform a biopsy to determine whether the tumour is malignant or benign."

  2. 2
    examination of tissues or liquids from the living body to determine the existence or cause of a disease wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To take a sample (a biopsy) for pathological examination.

    "They biopsied the lump but it turned out to be non-cancerous."

Synonyms

All synonyms
anatomic diagnosisbiological diagnosisclinical diagnosiscytodiagnosisdiagnosisdifferential diagnosis

Example

More examples

"The results of Tom's biopsy show that the tumor is cancerous."

Etymology

From French biopsie, from bi- + -opsy.

Related phrases

cone biopsyneedle aspiration biopsybodily fluid

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.