Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A procedure used in or adapted from Chinese medical practice in which specific body areas are pierced with fine needles for therapeutic purposes or to relieve pain or produce regional anesthesia.
  • transitive verb To subject to acupuncture.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A surgical operation consisting in the insertion of delicate needles in the tissues.
  • noun A mode of infanticide in some countries, consisting in forcing a needle into the brain of the child.
  • In surgery, to perform the operation of acupuncture upon.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) Pricking with a needle; a needle prick.
  • transitive verb To treat with acupuncture.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The insertion of needles into living tissue, especially for remedial purposes.
  • verb transitive To treat with acupuncture.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun treatment of pain or disease by inserting the tips of needles at specific points on the skin

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin acus, needle; see ak- in Indo-European roots + puncture.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin acus ("needle") + puncture

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