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amputer

to amputate

verb ahm-pü-TEH Rare
Body & Health Medicine

Usage Note

Amputer comes from Latin amputare ('to cut around'). In medical contexts, amputer quelqu'un de la jambe means 'to amputate someone's leg'. Figuratively, amputer un budget ('to slash a budget') extends the sense to severe cuts in funding or content. The resulting noun is une amputation.

Examples

"Les médecins ont dû amputer le bras du blessé."

Natural Translation

The doctors had to amputate the injured man's arm.

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