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Glite Dictionary
retractor

retractor

12 7.7
A tool surgeons use to hold open a cut or wound during surgery
  • noun
  • /rɪˈtræktər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : separador
  • The surgeon used a retractor to hold back the incision and provide a clear view of the tissue.

Examples

  • The surgeon places the debrider into the middle of the tonsil and uses the retractor as a shield so that the debrider will not stray too close to the edge of the tonsil.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The scrub nurse took hold of the stainless steel retractors and gently tugged open the wound.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Do you know what a retractor is?

    Future by Design (2006)

  • Then we placed a self-retaining retractor.

    Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

  • - Ready with the dialysis retractor?

    Young Doctors in Love (1982)

  • I learned by holding a retractor or thumb sponge.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Watch the retractor there.

    All the Real Girls (2003)

  • After hemostasis, the retractor is removed, which allows the brain to reexpand.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The tumor was slowly pulled down with a retractor to expose the sphenopalatine foramen.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The surgeon must manipulate the Herd retractor until it is placed between the tonsil and the posterior pillar, which is not visible initially.

    Academic text (2004)

Compounds

retractor muscle
  • Specialized
6.7

A muscle that pulls a body part back toward the body

How Wide

speculum
  • Specialized
3 9.9
dilator
  • Specialized
1 8.9
retractor
  • Specialized
12 7.7

Surface Forms

retractor singular
retractors plural

Morphology

retractor = retract (transparent) = retract + or

The noun denotes an instrument that performs the action 'retract'; the agent/instrument suffix '-or' transparently converts the verb to a noun.

Etymology

The word retractor comes from re- 'back' and tract 'to pull', the same root as tractor, a machine that pulls. So a retractor is a tool that 'pulls back' or holds tissue out of the way during surgery so the doctor can see and work.