Word Patch WotD Headingof the Day - ablation

ablation

/əˈbleɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
mass noun
1 The surgical removal of body tissue.
2 The removal of snow and ice from a glacier or iceberg by melting or evaporation.
2.1 The erosion of rock, typically by wind action.
2.2
The loss of surface material from a spacecraft or meteorite through
evaporation or melting caused by friction with the atmosphere.

Origin
Late
Middle English (in the general sense ‘taking away, removal’): from late
Latin ablatio(n-), from Latin ablat- ‘taken away’, from ab- ‘away’ +
lat- ‘carried’ (from the verb ferre).

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The scientists at National Aeronautics and Space Administration came to understand the nature of ablation when they observed it's effects on returning lander modules.