(ˈ)in|sīz, -īs verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French inciser, from Latin incisus, past participle of incidere, from in- in- (II) + -cidere (from caedere to cut) — more at concise
intransitive verb
obsolete : to make an incision
transitive verb
1. : to cut into : make an incision in
incised the swollen tissue
2.
a. : to carve figures, letters, or devices into : engrave
incise a tablet with an inscription
b. : to produce (as letters, figures, or devices) by carving into a surface
incise an inscription on a monument
3.
a. : to produce (a narrow steep-walled valley) by downward erosion
caused the streams to incise their valleys — C.O.Dunbar
b. : to lower (itself) by eroding a deeper channel
the streams then incised themselves to the new baselevel — C.O.Dunbar
c. : to intersect as a deep narrow cut
more than twenty different submarine canyon systems incise the continental border — J.C.Crowell