scal·pel (sk?l?p?l)n. A small straight knife with a thin sharp blade used in surgery and dissection.[Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalper, scalprum, knife, from scalpere, to scratch, cut; see skel- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.scalpel (?skælp?l) n (Surgery) a surgical knife with a short thin blade[C18: from Latin scalpellum, from scalper a knife, from scalpere to scrape] scalpellic adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014scal?pel (?skæl p?l) n. a small, light, usu. straight knife used in surgical and anatomical operations and dissections. [1735?45;