Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as trepanning.

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

  • noun the surgical procedure in which a hole is drilled in the skull and a circular piece of bone removed

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

  • noun an operation that removes a circular section of bone from the skull

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From trephine +‎ -ation.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word trephination.

Examples

  • I learned a new word today: "trephination" - drilling a hole in the skull to relieve pressure on the brain.

    Microserfs Coupland, Douglas 1995

  • Someone has an EBay auction about to close in which they're selling a genuine set of surgical tools for trephination - the surgical practice of drilling holes through the skull.

    Mind Hacks: Trephination set on EBay 2006

  • Someone has an EBay auction about to close in which they're selling a genuine set of surgical tools for trephination - the surgical practice of drilling holes through the skull.

    Mind Hacks: May 2006 Archives 2006

  • In fact, there is a substantial possibility that in the not-too-distant future, what many toilers now proudly consider their scientific output will be seen to constitute “science” in the same way that a medieval physician, packing his leeches and potions and phlebotomy and trephination tools, can be said to have “practiced medicine”.

    Robert Shapiro on Behe and ID - The Panda's Thumb 2005

  • Tone down the voodoo trip, the anarchy trip, the trephination trip.

    Another Roadside Attraction Robbins, Tom 1971

  • It begins with the first impressions of ship surgeons, missionaries and traders, who witnessed the amazing trephination skills of village medicine men residing in the Bismarck Archipelago.

    PRWeb - Daily News Feed 2010

  • It begins with the first impressions of ship surgeons, missionaries and traders, who witnessed the amazing trephination skills of village medicine men residing in the Bismarck Archipelago.

    PRWeb - Daily News Feed 2010

  • How about trephination (drilling a hole in someone's head) as a solution to mental illness?

    Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy 2009

  • How about trephination (drilling a hole in someone's head) as a solution to mental illness?

    Spero News 2009

  • How about trephination (drilling a hole in someone's head) as a solution to mental illness?

    American Thinker 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Trephination or trepanation (both derived from the Greek word trypanon, meaning "to bore") is perhaps the oldest form of neurosurgery.

    n. a surgical procedure in which a hole is drilled in the skull and a circular piece of bone removed (sometimes to relieve pressure on the brain).

    May 6, 2015

  • odd usage came up in "Parade's End"; the wife says, "I'm sorry I trepanned you" - meaning ambiguous from context; possibly "bored" as a violent pun?

    May 6, 2015