ablation

plural ablations

1. countableobsoleteuncountableA carrying or taking away; removal.First known use First attested around 1350 to 1470.
2. countableuncountablemedicineThe surgical removal of a body part, an organ, or especially a tumor; the removal of an organ function; amputation.First known use First attested around 1350 to 1470.
   1. countableuncountableartificial intelligencemedicineThe removal of a component of an AI system.
3. The progressive removal of material by any of a variety of processes such as melting or vaporization under heat or chipping.
   1. countableuncountablegeographyThe removal of a glacier by melting and evaporation; the lowering of a land surface by any of several means, as in wind erosion or mass wasting.First known use Mid 20ᵗʰ century.

      “We’re just seeing enormous ablation, ice melt rates and snow melt rates all over the Alps,” Glamos network chief Matthias Huss told AFP on Friday, as multiple Swiss weather stations registered new all-time records.

      2026 June 27, “Snow and ice on Swiss glaciers melting at alarming rate amid heatwave, expert says”, in The Guardian, sourced from Agence France-Presse, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Jun 2026

   2. countableuncountableclimatologyThe depletion of surface snow and ice from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting and evaporation caused by aerodynamic heating.First known use Mid 20ᵗʰ century.