inoperable
Americanadjective
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not operable or practicable.
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Medicine/Medical. not admitting of a surgical operation because the pathological condition is not amenable to cure by surgery or because of undue risk.
adjective
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incapable of being implemented or operated; unworkable
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surgery not suitable for operation without risk, esp (of a malignant tumour) because metastasis has rendered surgery useless
Other Word Forms
- inoperability noun
- inoperably adverb
Etymology
Origin of inoperable
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His own health issues followed the death of his former bandmate Tom Parker, in 2022 at the age of 33, after he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
From BBC
“Residents are rightfully fed up. We cannot allow inoperable, abandoned vehicles to become a permanent fixture of our streetscape. Nor can we enable ‘vanlords’ to exploit the homeless,” she said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times
New Start required the Navy to convert submarine missile tubes, making them inoperable.
But when she was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, she started losing weight and getting weaker.
From BBC
A 2023 law which proposed a similar ban on social media for young teenagers proved inoperable after courts decided it broke European law.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
