microtome

noun

mi·​cro·​tome ˈmī-krə-ˌtōm How to pronounce microtome (audio)
: an instrument for cutting sections (as of biological tissues) for microscopic examination

Examples of microtome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Researchers use a special tool called a microtome to cut sections from a brain preserved in paraffin wax. Becky Lang, Discover Magazine, 20 June 2013 Embryonic tissue was too delicate to withstand pressure from the clasp of a microtome. Benjamin Ehrlich, Scientific American, 21 Mar. 2022 As a journalist and novelist, Tom Wolfe could, like no one else, take one particular broad subject — class and status — and slice it thin for examination and diagnosis, like a pathologist with a microtome. Christopher Bonanos, Daily Intelligencer, 15 May 2018 Then, using a special instrument, a microtome, the technician would slice the paraffin block into ultrathin sections, about 0.0002 inches thick. Lynne Parenti, Smithsonian, 14 Mar. 2018

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary

First Known Use

1856, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of microtome was in 1856

Dictionary Entries Near microtome

Cite this Entry

“Microtome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/microtome. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Medical Definition

microtome

1 of 2 noun
mi·​cro·​tome ˈmī-krə-ˌtōm How to pronounce microtome (audio)
: an instrument for cutting sections (as of organic tissues) for microscopic examination
bone-sectioning microtomes

microtome

2 of 2 transitive verb
microtomed; microtoming
: to cut in sections with a microtome

More from Merriam-Webster on microtome

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!