operating room

American  

noun

• operating rooms
  plural

1. a specially equipped room, usually in a hospital, where surgical procedures are performed. OR

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• operating rooms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of operating room

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

operating room

"There wouldn't have been any operations without them," she told AFP outside the operating room in the cardiology department.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Ruteng Regional General Hospital's operating room, delivery room, pharmacy, and laboratory were all rendered defunct after the building's roof collapsed.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

The team was about to take her to the operating room when he was finally able to detach it.

From Salon ● May 27, 2026

“We had a colloquial term in the operating room: December Deductible Derby.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

But Margaret had been trained as a surgical nurse, which meant sterility was her specialty—it was key to preventing deadly infections in patients in the operating room.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot