(verb) : am-pŭto, āvi, ātum, 1
* To cut around, to cut away or off, to lop off, prune.
* Lit., esp. of plants: amputata id est circum putata, Paul. ex Fest. p. 24 Müll.: vitem ferro,Cic. Sen. 15: mergum,Col. 4, 15, 4: cacumen (ulmi),Plin. 16, 32, 57, § 132.— Of other things: praeceidit caulem testīsque una amputat ambo,Lucil. 7, 22 Müll.: pestiferum in corpore,Cic. Phil. 8, 5: umeros,to mutilate,Sen. Thyest. 761: ex ipso vertice capillos,Plin. Ep. 7, 27, 12: caput,Suet. Galb. 20: manus,id. ib. 9: pollices,id. Aug. 24 et saep.—In Pliny also of things that are bitten off: caudas mugili,Plin. 9, 62, 88, § 185.
* Trop., to lop off, curtail, shorten, diminish: amputata inanitas omnis et error,removed, banished,Cic. Fin. 1, 13: volo esse in adulescente, unde aliquid amputem,id. de Or. 2, 21: licet hinc quantum cuique videbitur circumcidat atque amputet,id. ib. 1, 15, 65: longa colloquia,Sen. Med. 530: numerum legionum,Tac. H. 2, 69.—In rhet.: amputata loqui,in a disconnected manner, in abrupt sentences,Cic. Or. 51: amputata oratio et abscisa,concise,Plin. Ep. 1, 20, 18.

s. TLL