Meaning & use
trephine
A surgical instrument used to cut a circular section of bone, especially from the skull.
See it in a sentence
Surgeons once used a trephine to relieve pressure on the brain by removing a small disc of bone.
The ancient skull showed clear evidence of a hole made by an early trephine.
A note on using this word
Trephining, one of the oldest known surgical procedures, has been practiced since prehistoric times.
Words with a similar meaning
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Another way to use it
2. verb
To operate on someone's skull using a trephine instrument.
The ancient healer trephined the skull to treat what he believed was evil spirits.
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