Definition of "ablation" []

• Surgical excision or amputation of a body part or tissue. (noun)
• The erosive processes by which a glacier is reduced. (noun)
• Aerospace The dissipation of heat generated by atmospheric friction, especially in the atmospheric reentry of a spacecraft or missile, by means of a melting heat shield. (noun)
• Aerospace The reduction or removal of heat-protective surface material by aerodynamic friction, as from a heat shield. (noun)

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.

• "Radiofrequency ablation is a procedure in which heat is used to treat certain kinds of lesions."
• "Energy and mass balance studies on Kilimanjaro cover barely two years, and define neither trends nor the long term ablation rate."
• "The surplus of accumulation that exists must be balanced by an increase in ablation, which is accomplished by expanding the low-elevation terminus zone of the ablation area."