costectomy: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Very LowHighly Technical (Medical/Surgical)
Quick answer
What does “costectomy” mean?
The surgical removal of a rib.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
The surgical removal of a rib.
A surgical procedure performed to excise all or part of a rib, typically to access underlying organs, treat trauma, or manage certain medical conditions.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage between UK and US medical English. Spelling is identical.
Connotations
Purely clinical, denotes a specific surgical intervention.
Frequency
Equally rare and specialized in both dialects.
Grammar
How to Use “costectomy” in a Sentence
The surgeon performed a costectomy on the patient.A costectomy was necessary to access the thoracic cavity.Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “costectomy” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The surgical team decided to costectomise the damaged rib.
American English
- The surgeon will costectomize the rib to facilitate the approach.
adjective
British English
- The costectomy incision was healing well.
American English
- The patient's costectomy scar was minimal.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Not used.
Academic
Used in medical textbooks, surgical manuals, and clinical research papers.
Everyday
Extremely unlikely to be used or encountered.
Technical
Core usage in thoracic surgery, orthopedic surgery, and trauma medicine.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “costectomy”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “costectomy”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “costectomy”
- Misspelling as 'coastectomy' (confusing with 'coast').
- Incorrect stress placement (e.g., COS-tectomy instead of cos-TEC-tomy).
- Using it to refer to non-surgical rib removal.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is a highly specialized medical term used almost exclusively by healthcare professionals in surgical contexts.
They are essentially synonyms. 'Costectomy' is the formal, Greco-Latin derived term, while 'rib resection' is a more descriptive English phrase meaning the same procedure.
No. The prefix 'costo-' specifically denotes 'rib'. Other '-ectomy' procedures remove different things (e.g., appendectomy, tonsillectomy).
Reasons include trauma (e.g., a severely fractured rib), to gain surgical access to the chest cavity (e.g., for lung or heart surgery), to treat infections or tumours of the rib, or to harvest rib tissue for grafts.
The surgical removal of a rib.
Costectomy is usually highly technical (medical/surgical) in register.
Costectomy: in British English it is pronounced /kɒˈstɛktəmi/, and in American English it is pronounced /kɑˈstɛktəmi/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'COST' as in 'rib' (from Latin 'costa') + 'ECTOMY' as in 'cut out' = cutting out a rib.
Conceptual Metaphor
N/A. The term is a literal, technical composite.
Practice
Quiz
In which field is the term 'costectomy' primarily used?