incision
/ɪnˈsɪʒ(ə)n
/noun
1A surgical cut made in skin or flesh: an abdominal incision...
- Subsequent surgical incisions in shaved skin, therefore, may become infected more easily than in untreated skin.
- The types of skin incisions made for tracheostomy may or may not have a direct relationship to the likely development of stomal stenosis after intubation.
- Two surgical incisions are used in carotid artery endarterectomies.
Synonyms
cut, opening, slit
1.1A mark or decoration cut into a surface: a block of marble delicately decorated with incisions...
- This creature is to be found in his work either in sculptural form or as a surface incision.
- Two rows of sharply delineated feathers are finely executed in low relief with deep, precise incisions marking the details.
- Here sweeping, razor-thin incisions slash through medium without ever cutting through to canvas.
Synonyms
notch, nick, snick, scratch, scarification;
gash, slash
archaic scotch
1.2 [mass noun] The action or process of cutting into something: the method is associated with less blood loss during incision...
- This succession is characterized by fourth-order, fluvial-to-marine sequences, with valley incision up to 25 km wide and 70 m deep.
- This period is also characterized by the deepest fluvial incision, which is interpreted as a response to a major relative sea-level lowering.
- Van Dijk et al. emphasized the absence of deep erosional incision in the geometry of the unconformity.
Derivatives
incisional
- An incisional biopsy was then performed on the left breast mass, and a diagnosis of gynecomastia with significant atypia was rendered.
- Although technically more difficult than open procedures, laparoscopic procedures are associated with a decreased length of hospital stay and fewer wound infections and incisional hernias.
- The Plymouth Hernia Service not only supports my practice of open inguinal herniorrhaphy but also that of three of my colleagues who undertake laparoscopic repair for bilateral and recurrent inguinal hernias and incisional hernias.
Origin
Late Middle English: from late Latin incisio(n-), from Latin incidere 'cut into' (see incise).
Latin incidere ‘cut into’ is the source of several words: incision; incisive (Late Middle English) first used in the sense ‘cutting, penetrating’; incise (mid 16th century); and incisor (late 17th century) from a medieval Latin word meaning literally ‘cutter’.