Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows
or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps
Verb: cauterise  'ko-tu,rIz
Usage: Brit (N. Amer: cauterize)
  1. Burn, sear, or freeze (tissue) using a hot iron or electric current or a caustic agent
    "The surgeon cauterised the wart";
    - cauterize, burn
     
  2. Make insensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals
    "Years of hardship had cauterised his emotions";
    - callous, cauterize

Derived forms: cauterised, cauterises, cauterising

Type of: burn, care for, enure, harden, indurate, inure, treat

Encyclopedia: Cauterise