Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
susurrate
susurrus
Sutherland Falls
Sutlej
sutler
sutra
suttee
Sutton Coldfield
suture
SUV
Suva
Suwannee
suxamethonium
suzerain
Suzhou
Suzy-Q
SV
Click to move down the list of words
Print Preview
See pronunciation key
Search for "suture" in all of MSN Encarta
E-mail this entry
Blog about this entry on MSN Spaces
Download the MSN Encarta Right-Click Dictionary

suture

su·ture [ schər ]


noun  (plural su·tures)
Definition:
 
1. material for surgical stitching: a piece of material used to close a wound or connect tissues, e.g. catgut, thread, or wire

2. surgical seam: the line formed where a wound has been closed or tissues have been joined

3. seam: a seam or line at which two edges have been joined

4. anatomy immovable joint: a joint, especially in the skull, in which the bones are tightly bound together by fibrous connective tissue so as to prevent movement between them

5. zoology line at point of juncture: a distinguishable line at the junction of adjacent structures, e.g. between the chambers of a mollusk shell or between the exoskeletal plates of an insect

6. botany line on seed pod or fruit: a line along which a seed pod or fruit will split to release its seeds



transitive verb  (past and past participle su·tured, present participle su·tur·ing, 3rd person present singular su·tures)
Definition:
 
surgery close wound: to close a wound by joining the edges

[15th century. < Latin sutura< sut-, past participle of suere "sew"]

su·tur·al adjective
su·tur·al·ly adverb
Advertisement

Also on Encarta
Englishtown: Learn English online
Our Partners
Also on MSN
Encarta Message Boards (© Rubberball/Jupiterimages)
Shopping
© 2009 Microsoft