stylet, stylette

1. A flexible metallic rod inserted in the lumen of a flexible catheter to stiffen it and give it form during its passage. 2. A slender probe. SYN: style, stylus (3), stilus. [It. stilletto, a dagger; dim. of L. stilus or stylus, a stake, a pen]

- endotracheal s. a rod of malleable metal used to maintain the desired curve of a tube for its insertion into the trachea.