surgery

American  

[sur-juh-ree] / ˈsɜr dʒə ri /

noun

surgeries plural

1. the art, practice, or work of treating diseases, injuries, or deformities by manual or operative procedures.

2. the branch of medicine concerned with such treatment.

3. treatment, as an operation, performed by a surgeon.

4. a room or place for surgical operations.

5. British. a doctor's or dentist's office or office hours.

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surgery British  

/ ˈsɜːdʒərɪ /

noun

1. the branch of medicine concerned with treating disease, injuries, etc, by means of manual or operative procedures, esp by incision into the body

2. the performance of such procedures by a surgeon

3. a place where a doctor, dentist, etc, can be consulted

4. an occasion when an MP, lawyer, etc, is available for consultation

5. an operating theatre where surgical operations are performed

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• presurgery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• surgeries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of surgery

1250–1300; Middle English surgerie < Old French cirurgerie chirurgery

Explanation

Surgery is a medical procedure, usually involving an incision and instruments. A surgery is done to fix or prevent a health problem. There are a lot of kinds of surgery in the world. Some are very serious, like brain surgery and heart surgery. Others are minor, like getting your appendix removed. In most cases, you'll be unconscious for surgery, to make it easier for the surgeon to get the job done. You can also call the room where surgeries are done a surgery, and talk about the field of surgery.

Example Sentences

Mexican midfielder Edson Álvarez underwent surgery on his left ankle after getting injured during a match with his club team, Fenerbahce, last February.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026

Along with routine screening through mammography or MRI, some individuals with inherited genetic mutations that greatly increase breast cancer risk may choose preventive surgery, including prophylactic mastectomy.

From Science Daily • Jun. 6, 2026

Ott’s weight loss started with bariatric surgery in 2017, which helped her lose over 100 pounds, followed by weight-loss medications starting in 2023 to shed an additional 30 pounds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Both address bad valves without open-heart surgery, typically by going in through the femoral artery in the groin.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

When I was recovering from the surgery in the hospital, she visited me with a bouquet of flowers and a plastic container filled with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day