Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A slender, pointed instrument or weapon, such as a stiletto.
  • noun A surgical probe.
  • noun A fine wire that is run through a catheter, cannula, or hollow needle to keep it stiff or clear of debris.
  • noun Zoology A small, stiff, needlelike organ or appendage, such as a piercing mouthpart of an aphid or other hemipteran insect.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A slender pointed instrument; a stiletto.
  • noun In surgery, the perforator of a trocar; the stiffening wire or rod in a flexible catheter; sometimes, a probe. Also stilette.
  • noun In zoology, a little style; also, a style; specifically, in entomology, one of the second of the t hree pairs of rhabdites or appendages of the abdominal sternites entering into the formation of the ovipositor. See cut under Arctisca.
  • noun Specifically— Same as cercopod. Compare style, 2 .
  • noun In fishes, one of the slender rays of bone on or above the base of the ribs; the epipleural.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A small poniard; a stiletto.
  • noun An instrument for examining wounds and fistulas, and for passing setons, and the like; a probe, -- called also specillum.
  • noun A stiff wire, inserted in catheters or other tubular instruments to maintain their shape and prevent clogging.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any small, more or less rigid, bristlelike organ.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A slender medical probe or device.
  • noun zoology A stiff, slender organ of an animal.
  • noun botany A style of a plant's flower.
  • noun A stiletto or poniard.
  • noun An engraving tool.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun small needlelike appendage; especially the feeding organ of a tardigrade

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Italian stiletto, stiletto; see stiletto.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French stylet ("stiletto"), from Middle French stilet ("stiletto"), from Old Italian stiletto

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Examples

  • For my own use I have taken off the ratchet-locking device for all general work, to be reapplied on the rare occasions when it is required.] _Bronchoscopic and esophagoscopic grasping forceps_ are of the tubular type, that is, a stylet carrying the jaws works in a slender tube so that traction on the stylet draws the V of the open jaws into the lumen of the tube, thus causing the blades to approximate.

    Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery Chevalier Jackson 1911

  • The needle stylet was removed and a 1-mm fiber-optic micro endoscope was introduced into the needle sheath to allow direct visualization of the bipolar cord cauterization procedure.

    Twin Reversed Arterial Perfusion Sequence and Bipolar Cord 2010

  • Modified stylet technique for tenting of amniotic membranes.

    Prenatal Diagnosis 2010

  • Molecular filters in the stylet excluded mere cerebrospinal fluid, which was clear and colorless, so that all that was harvested was a concentrated solution of nanites.

    THE 4400® WELCOME TO PROMISE CITY GREG COX 2009

  • Molecular filters in the stylet excluded mere cerebrospinal fluid, which was clear and colorless, so that all that was harvested was a concentrated solution of nanites.

    THE 4400® WELCOME TO PROMISE CITY GREG COX 2009

  • The leafhopper acquires the phytoplasma while feeding by inserting its stylet a long, slender hollow feeding structure into the phloem of infected plants and withdrawing the phytoplasma with the plant sap.

    E-China-See-Ya~A Public Service Announcement « Fairegarden 2009

  • Molecular filters in the stylet excluded mere cerebrospinal fluid, which was clear and colorless, so that all that was harvested was a concentrated solution of nanites.

    THE 4400® WELCOME TO PROMISE CITY GREG COX 2009

  • A fitted stylet turned the counting mechanism and a bell rang.

    1936: Counting America's 40,000,000 Votes 2008

  • Species parasitic on invertebrates have a slightly modified stylet of the same nature to pierce the cuticle of their prey, for the purpose of feeding on haemolymph.

    Nematoda 2008

  • Je tenais l'appareil de la main gauche mais c'etait sans compter sur mes super tremblements et alors arrivé a la "roue" ou l'on doit tourner le stylet le plus vite possible la c'etait meme pas la peine l'image etait pu du tout cadrée vu que ca bougeait dans tous les sens!

    pinku-tk Diary Entry pinku-tk 2007

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