Some dressing in an operating room

GAUZE

This lightweight fabric is often used to cover wounds and comes in sterile pads; surgeons might reach for it after a procedure.

This clue plays on the double meaning of "dressing." In a medical setting like an operating room, "dressing" refers to the material used to cover wounds—often made of gauze. The word also hints at the verb "dressing" (like putting on clothes), but the surgical context points you to the answer. "Gauze" fits perfectly as both a wound covering and a homophone for "gaze," though that’s not part of the wordplay here.