: an instrument for cutting sections (as of biological tissues) for microscopic examination
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebEmbryonic tissue was too delicate to withstand pressure from the clasp of a microtome. Benjamin Ehrlich, Scientific American, 21 Mar. 2022 As a journalist and novelist, Tom Wolfe could, like no one else, take one particular broad subject — class and status — and slice it thin for examination and diagnosis, like a pathologist with a microtome. Christopher Bonanos, Daily Intelligencer, 15 May 2018 Then, using a special instrument, a microtome, the technician would slice the paraffin block into ultrathin sections, about 0.0002 inches thick. Lynne Parenti, Smithsonian, 14 Mar. 2018
Word History
Etymology
International Scientific Vocabulary
First Known Use
1856, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
microtome 1 of 2
noun
mi·cro·tome ˈmī-krə-ˌtōm
: an instrument for cutting sections (as of organic tissues) for microscopic examination