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View synonyms for trepan

trepan

1

[ trih-pan ]

noun

  1. a tool for cutting shallow holes by removing a core.
  2. Surgery. an obsolete form of the trephine resembling a carpenter's bit and brace.


verb (used with object)

, tre·panned, tre·pan·ning.
  1. Machinery. to cut circular disks from (plate stock) using a rotating cutter.
  2. Surgery. to operate upon with a trepan; trephine.

trepan

2

[ trih-pan ]

noun

  1. a person who ensnares or entraps others.
  2. a stratagem; a trap.

verb (used with object)

, tre·panned, tre·pan·ning.
  1. to ensnare or entrap.
  2. to entice.
  3. to cheat or swindle.

trepan

1

/ ˌtrɛpəˈneɪʃən; trɪˈpæn /

noun

  1. surgery an instrument resembling a carpenter's brace and bit formerly used to remove circular sections of bone (esp from the skull) Compare trephine
  2. a tool for cutting out circular blanks or for making grooves around a fixed centre
    1. the operation of cutting a hole with such a tool
    2. the hole so produced


verb

  1. to cut (a hole or groove) with a trepan
  2. surgery another word for trephine

trepan

2

/ trəˈpæn; trɪˈpæn /

verb

  1. to entice, ensnare, or entrap
  2. to swindle or cheat

noun

  1. a person or thing that traps

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Derived Forms

  • trepanation, noun
  • treˈpanner, noun

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Other Words From

  • trep·a·na·tion [trep-, uh, -, ney, -sh, uh, n], noun
  • tre·panner noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of trepan1

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun trepane, from Middle French trepan “surgical crown saw,” from Medieval Latin trepanum, from Greek trȳ́panon “borer,”verb derivative of the noun

Origin of trepan2

First recorded in 1635–45; earlier trapan; of obscure origin; perhaps a derivative of trap 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of trepan1

C14: from Medieval Latin trepanum rotary saw, from Greek trupanon auger, from trupan to bore, from trupa a hole

Origin of trepan2

C17: of uncertain origin

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Example Sentences

The learned doctors held a consultation, and resolved to trepan the skull and extract the worm.

Figs. 141 to 146 are of the connections to the trepan and spears or rods.

If our Vulcans now-a-days were to trepan the heads of our Jupiters, they would find nothing in them!

The sheep necessarily dies at last, unless we remove the parasite by means of the trepan.

The surgical trepan is a different word altogether, and belongs to Greco-Lat.

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