ablate

verb

ab·​late a-ˈblāt How to pronounce ablate (audio)
ablated; ablating

transitive verb

: to remove or destroy especially by cutting, abrading, or evaporating

intransitive verb

: to become ablated
especially : vaporize sense 1

Examples of ablate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The heat shield is designed to ablate, or char, during re-entry heating when returning from the moon at speeds of more than 25,000 mph. William Harwood, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2024 The laser hits the pellets, heats them, and ablates them, so that part of their material melts and becomes plasma—a hot cloud of ionized particles. Ramin Skibba, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2023 The treatment for splenosis is to remove or ablate symptomatic lesions. Douglas G Adler, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021 Doctors were able to successfully ablate the arrhythmia during the surgery, John confirmed. Anya Leon, PEOPLE.com, 6 Aug. 2020 The first is a minimally invasive procedure where the nerves that carry pain information away from the knee are ablated, or destroyed, with the use of a special needle. Markus Bendel, sun-sentinel.com, 14 Aug. 2019 The instability essentially exhausts the plasma onto the wall, ablating it away. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 13 Sep. 2018 The advantage this route has over electrolysis is treating a larger portion at a time, while electrolysis (elaborated on below) is individually ablating one follicle at a time — think waxing versus plucking. Sam Escobar, Good Housekeeping, 17 Aug. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ablate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin ablātus (suppletive past participle of auferre "to carry away, remove"), from ab- ab- + lātus, suppletive past participle of ferre "to bear" — more at bear entry 2, tolerate

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of ablate was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near ablate

Cite this Entry

“Ablate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ablate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ablate

verb
ab·​late a-ˈblāt How to pronounce ablate (audio)
ablated; ablating
: to remove or become removed by cutting, wearing away, evaporating, or vaporizing

Medical Definition

ablate

transitive verb
ab·​late a-ˈblāt How to pronounce ablate (audio)
ablated; ablating
: to remove or destroy especially by cutting or abrading
ablate diseased tissue
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