| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| ablation |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ab·la·tion |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -bl  sh n |
| NOUN: | 1. Surgical excision or amputation of a body part or tissue. 2. The erosive processes by which a glacier is reduced. 3. Aerospace The dissipation of heat generated by atmospheric friction, especially in the atmospheric reentry of a spacecraft or missile, by means of a melting heat shield. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Late Latin ablti , abltin-, from Latin abltus, past participle of auferre, to carry away : ab-, away; see ab–1 + ltus, carried; see tel- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | ab·lator —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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