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Definitions

cauterize

[kaw-tuh-rahyz] / ˈkɔ təˌraɪz /
VERB
disinfect by burning
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

If any bleeding occurs during the polyp removal, doctors can cauterize the wound to seal it, but this method creates a scar that may delay the healing, and result in additional complications.

From Science Daily Mar. 12, 2024

"And then when things really come to a head, they try to cauterize the wound at the lowest level possible."

From Salon Mar. 2, 2023

Where life wounds, art and fellowship can heal, or at the very least, cauterize into the most expressive of scars.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 1, 2022

The world of medical misinformation runs adjacent to our own, and when that world floods Facebook, Pinterest, etc., social media platforms deploy extremes to cauterize anti-vaccination campaigns and false advertisings illustrating the dangers of vaccination.

From Slate Mar. 18, 2019

“I just thought you might have a few extra minutes to cauterize the inside of Jack’s nasal passages,” Mom said smoothly.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos

Following Dr. Graham on his medical rounds, they witness no heroic acts of surgery—he cauterizes a persistent sore on someone’s face; he presides at the death bed of a longtime patient and friend.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 23, 2025

Debate — philosophically and physiologically — makes us human, whereas dogma cauterizes our potential as a species.

From New York Times Jun. 8, 2018

He cauterizes our indulgences in pity or piety: it is impossible, he reminds us, to feel pity for the self-pitying.

From The New Yorker Apr. 11, 2017

The critic analyzes and cauterizes, coolly judging a film’s manipulation of its audience.

From Time Jan. 12, 2012

One brands with a hot iron, but cauterizes with some corrosive substance, as silver nitrate.

From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin

The private-credit industry sprang up in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to fill lending gaps left by cauterized commercial banks.

From Barron's Apr. 24, 2026

He had a blood vessel cauterized in his nose and began checking the air quality each morning to see if it was safe to go outside.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 9, 2024

Once they found the ulcer, they cauterized it and gave him two pints of blood.

From Seattle Times Oct. 11, 2023

A Swiss government-backed buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS has cauterized the immediate concern over European financial stability.

From Reuters Mar. 21, 2023

The wounds were cauterized with carbolic acid and sterilized with alcohol.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

But because it involved cauterizing lesions, I was put under general anesthesia to spare me the horrors of experiencing it.

From Slate Apr. 18, 2026

Dr. Ronald Pelletier removed Jenkins’ kidney early Tuesday morning after more than an hour of snipping, cauterizing and clipping.

From Washington Times Mar. 4, 2017

Just as cauterizing a wound stops bleeding, they claim that lighting up hair makes it smoother-looking.

From Time Jul. 15, 2015

As they operate the remote controls, they no longer feel tissues when cutting, cauterizing and suturing.

From Seattle Times Jul. 8, 2012

Next to me she laid out the Q-tips, a magnifying glass, the bottle of anesthetic, and the cauterizing instrument, which was a wooden handle with a six-inch-long thickish wire coming out of one end.

From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos




Vocabulary lists containing cauterize


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