lobotomy

lobotomy [luh-bot-uh-mee, loh-] Examples noun, plural lo·bot·o·mies. Surgery.

1. the operation of cutting into a lobe, as of the brain or the lung.
2. prefrontal lobotomy.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Examples from the Web for lobotomy Contemporary Examples of lobotomy

“The owners have basically given us a lobotomy; they have removed our memory,” he says.

How the Newspaper Business Became a ‘F**king Disgrace’

Lloyd Grove

December 17, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for lobotomy lobotomy noun plural -mies

1. a surgical incision into a lobe of any organ
2. Also called: prefrontal leucotomy a surgical interruption of one or more nerve tracts in the frontal lobe of the brain: used in the treatment of intractable mental disorders

Word Origin for lobotomy C20: from lobe + -tomy Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for lobotomy n.

1936, coined from lobe (in the brain sense) + medical suffix -tomy. Figurative use is attested from 1953.

Now I guess I’ll have to tell ’em
That I got no cerebellum
[Ramones, “Teenage Lobotomy,” 1977] Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper lobotomy in Medicine lobotomy [lə-bŏt′ə-mē, lō-] n.

1. Incision into a lobe.
2. The division of one or more nerve tracts in a lobe of the cerebrum.

The American Heritage® Stedman’s Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. lobotomy in Science lobotomy [lə-bŏt′ə-mē]

1. Surgical incision into the frontal lobe of the brain to sever one or more nerve tracts, a technique formerly used to treat certain psychiatric disorders but now rarely performed.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. lobotomy in Culture lobotomy [(luh-bot-uh-mee, loh-bot-uh-mee)]

A surgical incision into one or more of the nerve masses in the front of the brain. A lobotomy may be performed for the relief of certain mental disorders, although it has been largely abandoned in favor of less radical treatments.

Note Because people who have had a lobotomy often become quite passive after the operation, the term is often used to refer to someone who shows a lack of response or reaction: “She was so tired she just sat there as if she had been lobotomized.” The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.