noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A small straight knife with a very sharp blade used for surgery, dissection and craftwork.

   "He feels a tingling behind his ears, anticipating the scalpel and the drill."

2. 2
   a thin straight surgical knife used in dissection and surgery wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To hit, thrust, or pierce with a scalpel.

Synonyms

All synonyms

bistouryedge toolhatchetinstrumentjackknifepick

Example

More examples

"What sort of a surgeon refuses to use a scalpel?"

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin scalpellum, from scalprum (“knife”), from scalpere (“to cut”). Doublet of scalpellum.

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