ablation

noun

1. 1

   A carrying or taking away; removal.

2. 2

   The surgical removal of a body part, an organ, or especially a tumor; the removal of an organ function; amputation.

3. 3

   The progressive removal of material by any of a variety of processes such as vaporization under heat or chipping.

4. 4

   The removal of a glacier by melting and evaporation; the lowering of a land surface by any of several means, as in wind erosion, mass wasting.

5. 5

   The depletion of surface snow and ice by melting and evaporation.