enucleation

1. Removal of an entire structure (such as an eyeball or tumor), without rupture, as one shells the kernel of a nut. 2. Removal or destruction of the nucleus of a cell. [L. enucleo, to remove the kernel, fr. e, out, + nucleus, nut, kernel]

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n.

a surgical operation in which an organ, tumour, or cyst is completely removed. In ophthalmology it is an operation in which the eyeball is removed but the other structures in the socket (e.g. eye muscles) are left in place. Commonly a plastic ball is temporarily buried in the socket to give a better cosmetic result prior to fitting an artificial eye.

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enu·cle·a·tion (e-noo″kle-aґshən) [L. e out + nucleus kernel] the removal of an organ, of a tumor, or of another body in such a way that it comes out clean and whole, like a nut from its shell. Used in connection with the eye, it denotes removal of the eyeball after the eye muscles and optic nerve have been severed.