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microtome
noun
mi·cro·tome
ˈmī-krə-ˌtōm
: an instrument for cutting sections (as of biological tissues) for microscopic examination
Examples of microtome in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Researchers use a special tool called a microtome to cut sections from a brain preserved in paraffin wax.
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Becky Lang, Discover Magazine, 20 June 2013
Embryonic tissue was too delicate to withstand pressure from the clasp of a microtome.
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Benjamin Ehrlich, Scientific American, 21 Mar. 2022
As a journalist and novelist, Tom Wolfe could, like no one else, take one particular broad subject — class and status — and slice it thin for examination and diagnosis, like a pathologist with a microtome.
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Christopher Bonanos, Daily Intelligencer, 15 May 2018
Then, using a special instrument, a microtome, the technician would slice the paraffin block into ultrathin sections, about 0.0002 inches thick.
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Lynne Parenti, Smithsonian, 14 Mar. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'microtome.' 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
International Scientific Vocabulary
First Known Use
1856, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near microtome
Cite this Entry
“Microtome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microtome. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
Medical Definition
microtome
1 of 2 noun
mi·cro·tome
ˈmī-krə-ˌtōm
: an instrument for cutting sections (as of organic tissues) for microscopic examination
bone-sectioning microtomes
microtome
2 of 2 transitive verb
microtomed; microtoming
: to cut in sections with a microtome
More from Merriam-Webster on microtome
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about microtome
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