verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To surgically remove the foreskin (prepuce) from the penis of.
2. 2
   cut the foreskin off male babies or teenage boys wordnet
3. 3
   To surgically remove the clitoris (clitoridectomy), clitoral hood, or labia. proscribed, sometimes
4. 4
   cut the skin over the clitoris wordnet
5. 5
   To trim off the portion of the barrel liner of a large-caliber naval gun that protrudes from the end of the barrel as a result of the liner slowly stretching from prolonged fire. slang

Synonyms

All synonyms

circcirccutcutposthectomizeposthetomize

Example

More examples

"He knows how to circumcise children."

Etymology

From Old French circoncisier, from Latin circumcīdō (“cut around”), from circum (“about, around; through”) + caedō (“cut, hew”).

Related phrases

clitoral hood

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