Definition of "ovariotomy" [o•va•ri•ot•o•my]

• An ovariectomy. (noun)
• Surgical incision into an ovary, as to perform a biopsy or remove a tumor. (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.

• "This operation, known as ovariotomy, is one of the greatest triumphs of modern surgery."
• "Ephraim McDowell (1771–1830) performed a successful ovariotomy, thus showing that surgery of the abdominal cavity was not necessarily fatal."
• "-- The removal of the ovaries, or ovariotomy, is practised for the purpose of rendering the female more useful for meat production, prolonging the period of lactation, overcoming vicious habits and preventing oestrum or heat."