Definition of "ablate" [ablate]

• Medicine To excise, amputate, or otherwise destroy the biological function of (a body tissue, for example). (verb-transitive)
• To remove by erosion, melting, evaporation, or vaporization. (verb-transitive)
• To become ablated; undergo ablation. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Orion's heat shield, the dish-shaped thermal protection system at the base of the spacecraft, will endure the most heat and will erode, or "ablate," in a controlled fashion, transporting heat away from the crew module during its descent through the atmosphere."
• "The base of Orion's heat shield will endure the most heat and will erode away or "ablate" in a controlled fashion - transporting heat away during the descent through the atmosphere."
• "Dr. Boothe the excimer laser uses a cool ultraviolet light beam to precisely remove ( "ablate") very tiny bits of tissue from the cornea to reshape it."