operate

[op-uh-reyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR operate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), op·er·at·ed, op·er·at·ing.

to work, perform, or function, as a machine does: This engine does not operate properly.

to work or use a machine, apparatus, or the like.

to act effectively; produce an effect; exert force or influence (often followed by on or upon): Their propaganda is beginning to operate on the minds of the people.

to perform some process of work or treatment.

Surgery. to perform a surgical procedure.

(of a drug) to produce the effect intended.

Military.

to carry on operations in war.
to give orders and accomplish military acts, as distinguished from doing staff work.

to carry on transactions in securities, or some commodity, especially speculatively or on a large scale.

Informal. to use devious means for one's own gain; insinuate oneself; finagle: a man who knows how to operate with the ladies.

verb (used with object), op·er·at·ed, op·er·at·ing.

to manage or use (a machine, device, etc.): to operate a switchboard.

to put or keep (a factory, industrial system, ranch, etc.) working or in operation: to operate a coal mine.

to bring about, effect, or produce, as by action or the exertion of force or influence.

Origin of operate

1600–10; < Late Latin operātus, past participle of operārī, -āre to work, be efficacious, effect, produce, Latin: to busy oneself, verbal derivative of opera effort, work, akin to opus work; see -ate¹

Related formsop·er·at·a·ble, adjectivepre·op·er·ate, verb (used without object), pre·op·er·at·ed, pre·op·er·at·ing.re·op·er·ate, verb (used with object), re·op·er·at·ed, re·op·er·at·ing.un·op·er·at·a·ble, adjectiveun·op·er·at·ed, adjectivewell-op·er·at·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for operated

fulfilled, managed, negotiated, enforced, executed, ordered, handled, determined, used, run, moved, transported, driven, finished, served, sustained, worked, directed, contrived, practiced

Examples from the Web for operated

Contemporary Examples of operated

AirAsia Indonesia, which operated Flight 8501, is the Indonesian subsidiary of AirAsia, which is based in Malaysia.
Annoying Airport Delays Might Prevent You From Becoming the Next AirAsia 8501
Clive Irving
January 6, 2015
During two years in Iranian custody, Abdolhamid provided crucial details of how Jundullah operated.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan
Umar Farooq
December 29, 2014
She operated it for 16 years before putting it in the hands of one of her mistresses.
Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix
Justin Jones
November 25, 2014
It would inject a threat of accountability into power, and upend the impunity wartime leaders had operated under for years.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’
Nina Strochlic
November 19, 2014
It added that it would be “operated exclusively for public and social-welfare purposes.”
Mystery Man Buys Kentucky for the GOP
Center for Public Integrity
October 29, 2014

Historical Examples of operated

New-Haven enjoys an elephant that has corns, and is about to be operated on by a chiropodist.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 7, May 14, 1870
Various
Not far from his grandmother's residence there was a windmill which operated on a new plan.
Biographical Stories
Nathaniel Hawthorne
This man said I must be operated on by a burning process, all of which was said to frighten me to duty.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
It is operated by pressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
From Hanover he removed to Pittsburgh, where he operated in provisions until 1845.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin

British Dictionary definitions for operated

operate

verb

to function or cause to function

(tr) to control the functioning ofoperate a machine

to manage, direct, run, or pursue (a business, system, etc)

(intr) to perform a surgical operation (upon a person or animal)

(intr) to produce a desired or intended effect

(tr usually foll by on) to treat or process in a particular or specific way

(intr) to conduct military or naval operations

(intr) to deal in securities on a stock exchange

Word Origin for operate

C17: from Latin operāri to work

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for operated

operate

c.1600, "to be in effect," back-formation from operation, or else from Latin operatus, past participle of operari "to work, labor, toil, take pains" (in Late Latin "to have effect, be active, cause"). Surgical sense is first attested 1799. Meaning "to work machinery" is from 1864 in American English. Related: Operated; operating. Operating system in the computer sense is from 1961.

operated in Medicine

operate

[ŏp′ə-rāt′]

v.

To perform surgery.