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the removal, especially of organs, abnormal growths, or harmful substances, from the body by mechanical means, as by surgery.
the reduction in volume of glacial ice, snow, or névé by the combined processes of melting, evaporation, and calving.
compare (def 3).
aerosp-ce. erosion of the protective outer surface (ablator) of a sp-cecraft or missile due to the aerodynamic heating caused by travel at hypersonic speed during reentry through the atmosphere.
historical examples

further still, in those things which consist in ablation, the straight is as the flat nose; for it subsists with the continued.
library of the world’s best literature, ancient and modern, vol. 2 charles dudley warner

when this is impracticable, ablation of the tonsil may be necessary.
a system of practical medicine by american authors, vol. ii various

each year there must be a very slow sinking of the surface, but the ablation is infinitesimal.
the birth-time of the world and other scientific essays j. (john) joly

besides being a beacon for sledging parties, it was used for ablation measurements.
the home of the blizzard douglas mawson

the fracture of the bones or the ablation of a limb is often observed on animals which have been struck.
thunder and lightning camille flammarion

in practice this penalty of death appears to have been sometimes commuted to ablation of the s-xual organs.
studies in the psychology of s-x, volume 2 (of 6) havelock ellis

the first step towards this -ssurance is the ablation of the chronic shaksperian comparison.
life of robert browning william sharp

ablation may in such a case account for almost the whole of the snow removed.
the andes of southern peru isaiah bowman

excessive connective-tissue growth, exceptionally met with, is to be treated by ablation with the scissors or knife.
essentials of diseases of the skin henry weightman stelwagon

noun
the surgical removal of an organ, structure, or part
the melting or wearing away of an expendable part, such as the heat shield of a sp-ce re-entry vehicle on p-ssing through the earth’s atmosphere
the wearing away of a rock or glacier
n.

early 15c., from latin ablationem (nominative ablatio), “a taking away,” noun of action from past participle stem of auferre “to carry away,” from ab- “off” (see ab-) + ferre (past participle latum; see oblate) “to bear.”

ablation ab·la·tion (ā-blā’shən)
n.
removal of a body part or the destruction of its function, as by a surgery, disease, or noxious substance.
ablation
(ā-blā’shən)

the wearing away or destruction of the outer or forward surface of an object, such as a meteorite or a sp-cecraft, as it moves very rapidly through the atmosphere. the friction of the air striking the object heats and often melts or burns its outer layers. sp-cecraft and missiles are often equipped with heat shields designed to wear away by ablation in order to prevent heat from building up in structurally important parts.

the process by which snow and ice are removed from a glacier or other m-ss of ice. ablation typically occurs through melting, sublimation, wind erosion, or calving. ◇ the ablation zone is the area of a glacier that has the lowest elevation, where annual water loss is greater than the annual acc-mulation of snow.