suture

/ˈsuːtʃər/

noun

  1. a stitch, or the thread or wire used, to sew together the edges of a wound or surgical cut

    C1

    countablemedical

    • "The doctor put five sutures in his arm."B2
    • "The sutures will be removed after ten days, once the wound has healed."C1

  2. a fixed joint between two bones, especially those of the skull

    C2

    countabletechnical (anatomy)

    • "The sutures of a baby's skull are not yet fully joined."

  3. A line where two parts join, especially in anatomy or in sewing.

    C2

    countabletechnical

    • "The fossil shows clear sutures between the shell segments."C2

verb

  1. to close a wound or cut by sewing it with stitches

    C1

    transitive; regular: suture, sutured, suturingmedical

    • "The surgeon sutured the cut carefully."B2
    • "The wound had to be sutured immediately to stop the bleeding."C1

Common mistakes

  • The doctor sutured the stitches on my arm.→The doctor sutured the wound on my arm.

    Suture already means to stitch; you suture a wound or incision, not the stitches themselves.

  • The doctor did a suture to my hand.→The doctor put sutures in my hand.

    As a noun, suture refers to the thread or the stitch itself, so use 'put in sutures' or 'closed the wound with sutures' rather than 'do a suture to'.

Collocations

suture a woundsurgical sutureabsorbable suturesuture materialremove the suturessuture line

Word family

suturessuturedsuturingsuturablesuturalsutureless