Found 2 items, similar to trepan.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: trepan trepan n 1: a surgical instrument used to remove sections of bone from the skull [syn: trephine] 2: a drill for cutting circular holes around a center v : cut a hole with a trepan, as in surgery [also: trepanning, trepanned]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Trepan Trepan \Tre*pan"\, v. t. To insnare; to trap; to trapan. [1913 Webster] Guards even of a dozen men were silently trepanned from their stations. --De Quincey. [1913 Webster] Trepan \Tre*pan"\, n. [F. tr['e]pan (cf. Sp. tr['e]pano, It. trepano, trapano), LL. trepanum, fr. Gr. ? a borer, auger, trepan, fr. ? to bore, ? a hole. Cf. Trephine.] 1. (Surg.) A crown-saw or cylindrical saw for perforating the skull, turned, when used, like a bit or gimlet. See Trephine. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mining) A kind of broad chisel for sinking shafts. [1913 Webster] Trepan \Tre*pan"\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Trepanned; p. pr. & vb. n. Trepanning.] [Cf. F. tr['e]paner. See Trepan a saw.] (Surg.) To perforate (the skull) with a trepan, so as to remove a portion of the bone, and thus relieve the brain from pressure or irritation; to perform an operation with the trepan. [1913 Webster] Trepan \Tre*pan"\, n. [See Trapan.] 1. A snare; a trapan. [1913 Webster] Snares and trepans that common life lays in its way. --South. [1913 Webster] 2. a deceiver; a cheat. [1913 Webster] He had been from the beginning a spy and a trepan. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]