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Medical Suffixes
-tomy
Commonly used in surgical procedures like appendectomy, lobotomy, etc.
Literal Meaning
Incision, cutting into
Actual Meaning
This means CUTTING INTO something. So "craniotomy" is cutting into the skull.
Examples in Context

The surgeon performed a laparotomy to access the abdominal cavity.

Helpful Tips
  • 1Remember it as 'cutting' for various surgeries.
  • 2Think of '-tomy' in terms like appendectomy or tracheotomy.
Phrase Thesaurus
Similar words and synonyms for this phrase
incision
cutting
section
Related Phrases
Click to explore related phrases in our collection
Incision
-stomy
-ectomy