cauterize
to burn tissue with heat or a chemical
Root
- caust / cauter: burn or burning
Other words with the caust / cauter root
- caustic: burning or sharply critical
Cauterize keeps the literal burn image: tissue is burned to seal or remove it.
The surgeon cauterized the small vessel to stop the bleeding.
Cauterize is a same-root sibling for caustic. It keeps the burn sense physical before caustic turns that burn into sharp criticism.