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n. Eye surgery in which refractive disorders are corrected by reshaping an inner layer of the cornea, formerly performed by freezing corneal layers and forming them to a new curvature, but now usually performed using a laser. [Probably KERATO- + Greek smīleusis, carving (from smīlē, knife), the irregular omission of the initial s- of smīleusis in the compound being unexplained.] |
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