<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>the removal, especially of organs, abnormal growths, or harmful substances, from the body by mechanical means, as by surgery.</li><li>the reduction in volume of glacial ice, snow, or névé by the combined processes of melting, evaporation, and calving.</li><li>erosion of the protective outer surface ablative of a spacecraft or missile due to the aerodynamic heating caused by travel at hypersonic speed during reentry through the atmosphere.</li></ul>