lungectomy

English

Etymology

lung +‎ -ectomy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʌŋˈɛktəmi/
• Rhymes: -ɛktəmi

Noun

lungectomy (plural lungectomies)

1. (informal) The removal of a lung.
   • 2003, Dana Stabenow, A Grave Denied, →ISBN, page 48:

     However, considering that it was Len's cabin, and that Len's body has just been found under Grant Glacier, and that Len underwent a radical lungectomy with a shotgun sometime in the past year, yeah, I'm pretty sure.

   • 2013, Ron Currie, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles: A Novel, →ISBN:

     Six months after my father's diagnosis, after the lungectomy, after a good amount of time during which the cancer had been polite and stayed put in the neighborhood in which it had started, one of the lymph nodes under his jaw started to swell with the stuff.

   • 2017, Lyn Gala, Tap-Dancing the Minefields, →ISBN:

     Besides, Sadler's husband would perform an elective lungectomy on John if he ran around making that claim.

Usage notes

This word is not an actual medical term, but is used, often humorously, in imitation of medical terms. The medical term is pneumonectomy.