procedure

American  

[pruh-see-jer] / prəˈsi dʒər /

noun

• procedures
  plural

1. 

   an act or a manner of proceeding in any action or process; conduct.

   Synonyms:

   management

2. a particular course or mode of action.

   Synonyms:

   plan, method, operation

3. any given mode of conducting legal, parliamentary, or other business, especially litigation and judicial proceedings.

4. Computers.

   1. the sequence of actions or instructions to be followed in solving a problem or accomplishing a task.

   2. Also called subprogram. a group of statements that may be used at one or more points in a computer program.

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procedure British  

/ prəˈsiːdʒə /

noun

1. a way of acting or progressing in a course of action, esp an established method

2. the established mode or form of conducting the business of a legislature, the enforcement of a legal right, etc

3. computing another name for subroutine

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Usage

What does procedure mean? A procedure is a particular way of doing something, especially one that is usually repeated in the same way each time. This is how the word is used in the phrases standard procedure and follow procedure, as in It’s important to follow procedure in the event of an emergency. The word procedure can also refer to a particular course of action, as in The instructions list all the steps of the procedure. This is especially used in professional and technical contexts. In a legal context, the word refers to the specific way that proceedings need to be carried out according to the rules. In a medical context, procedure is used as a synonym for operation, as in I’m having a minor procedure done tomorrow. In computers and programming, a procedure is a series or instructions followed in order to complete some task, often as part of a program. Example: This is not proper procedure! Who’s in charge here?

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• procedural
  adjective
• procedurally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• procedures
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of procedure

From the French word procédure, dating back to 1605–15. See proceed, -ure

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Explanation

A procedure is a tried and true process or method used to accomplish a particular task. Using sharp metal picks, dentists scrape the plaque from their patients’ teeth. While effective, it’s a procedure most people despise. The word procedure is often used in the fields of medicine and law, sometimes in combination with other words, as in "surgical procedure" or "legal procedure." A "Parliamentary procedure" is the set of rules that you follow at a meeting of a club or some other organization (not necessarily a House of Parliament). Procedure is also related to the word procedural, which is sometimes used a term for a genre of television drama in which the plot revolves around a technical procedure, like the solving of a police case.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

procedure procedures

They had stressed that the Pope had shown no symptoms of infection or illness prior to the procedure.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

It is unclear whether Joel underwent the procedure, although the “Uptown Girl” singer initially postponed his concerts in March 2025 after undergoing unspecified surgery and physical therapy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Freezing your eggs is an expensive procedure that costs somewhere in the region of $20,000 per retrieval.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

After the procedure at Rome's Gemelli hospital on Tuesday, the Vatican revealed that the growth was cancerous and that surgeons had removed part of his right lung.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

It was a delicate procedure, requiring the welders to balance on opposite ends of a beam while it was lowered onto columns, then welded in place.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Now he can get some much-needed rest and recovery, a reality check and, possibly, some surgical procedures to repair the knee and biceps injuries that plagued him this season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

It added: "The IDF does not shorten or forgo examination or investigative procedures in order to meet external timelines."

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Although pain scores often improved substantially after treatment, the researchers found no statistically significant advantage over sham procedures when results from three randomized trials were combined.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Remove repeat offenders, punish hazing, and address infractions on a case-by-case basis under the university’s standard reporting procedures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson gave her a short briefing on procedures and then helped her lower the helmet over her head.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

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Related Words

• action
• agenda
• conduct
• form
• measure
• method
• move
• operation
• plan
• policy
• practice
• proceeding
• program
• scheme
• step
• strategy
• transaction

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