I. ˈsüchə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin sutura seam, suture, from sutus (past participle of suere to sew) + -ura -ure — more at sew
1.
a.
(1) : a strand or fiber (as of silk, nylon, cotton, catgut, wire) used to unite parts (as tissues, nerves, or blood vessels) of the human or an animal body
incisions were … closed with stainless steel sutures — Year Book of General Surgery
(2) : the material used for sutures
silk is the most widely used nonabsorbable suture at the present time — A.A.Stonehill
b. : a stitch made with a suture
my right arm was bandaged to my side so as not to open the sutures — Laurence Oliphant
c. : the act or process of sewing with sutures
fixation of mandibular fragments by direct bone suture — Internat'l Congress of Military Medicine
nerve suture has not been the most dramatic accomplishment of this … metal — F.G.Slaughter
d. : a seam whereby two edges of a cut or incision in a human or animal body are brought together so that they may ultimately unite
2.
a. : a uniting of parts
suture with glue is convenient — John Smith †1679
b. : the seam or seamlike line along which two things or parts have been united
here and there … we detect the sutures — J.D.Coleridge
3.
a. : the line of union in an immovable articulation (as between the bones of the skull)
b. : an immovable articulation : synarthrosis
4.
a. : the line or furrow formed at the junction of two adjacent parts ; often : a line of dehiscence
the ventral suture of a legume
b. : the crease on the surface of various fruits (as the peach)
5.
a. : the line at which the elytra of a beetle meet and are sometimes confluent
b. : a more or less impressed or otherwise distinguishable line of union (as between closely united sclerites of an arthropod or between the whorls of a univalve shell)
c. : the commonly more or less undulated or plicated line of junction of a septum of a cephalopod's shell with the wall of the shell — compare lobe 2b, saddle 4b(2)
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to unite the parts of by means of a suture
suture a wound
2. : to secure or fasten with sutures
needles were sutured in place — J.B.Howell & J.M.Riddell