operation
[op-uh-rey-shuh n]
- an act or instance, process, or manner of functioning or operating.
- the state of being operative (usually preceded by in or into): a rule no longer in operation.
- the power to act; efficacy, influence, or force.
- the exertion of force, power, or influence; agency: the operation of alcohol on the mind.
- a process of a practical or mechanical nature in some form of work or production: a delicate operation in watchmaking.
- a course or procedure of productive or industrial activity: building operations.
- a particular process or course: mental operations.
- a business transaction, especially one of a speculative nature; deal: a shady operation.
- a business, especially one run on a large scale: a multinational operation.
- Surgery. a procedure aimed at restoring or improving the health of a patient, as by correcting a malformation, removing diseased parts, implanting new parts, etc.
- Mathematics.
- a mathematical process, as addition, multiplication, or differentiation.
- the action of applying a mathematical process to a quantity or quantities.
- Military.
- a campaign, mission, maneuver, or action.
- Usually operations.the conduct of a campaign, mission, etc.
- operations,a headquarters, office, or place from which a military campaign, air traffic to and from an airfield, or any of various other activities, is planned, conducted, and controlled.
- operations,the people who work at such a headquarters.
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Origin of operation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
affair, use, transaction, force, deal, service, process, work, enterprise, agency, application, procedure, activity, action, effort, trip, exercise, movement, surgery, manipulationExamples from the Web for operation
Contemporary Examples
But they say its effect on the regular daily operation of organized crime has been negligible.
Their leader, Njie, still going by “Dave” during the operation, would stay a safe distance away until the State House was secure.
The campaign was known to palace insiders as “Operation Mrs. PB.”
If the operation caused no physical damage, it would be in bounds.
If it was the United States, the operation will test the bounds of international law.
Historical Examples
This operation is performed by a female, with the aid of a stamp.
The Story of the Invention of Steel PensHenry Bore
This operation is performed by the aid of a punch and die fitted into a screw-press.
The Story of the Invention of Steel PensHenry Bore
The physician replied that it was not far enough advanced for an operation.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
He remembered the day Max had done the Edwardes operation, and how proud he had been of him.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
This operation takes about twenty minutes, and at one operation about 1½ cwt.
operation
- the act, process, or manner of operating
- the state of being in effect, in action, or operative (esp in the phrases in or into operation)
- a process, method, or series of acts, esp of a practical or mechanical nature
- surgery any manipulation of the body or one of its organs or parts to repair damage, arrest the progress of a disease, remove foreign matter, etc
- a military or naval action, such as a campaign, manoeuvre, etc
- (capital and prenominal when part of a name)Operation Crossbow
- maths
- any procedure, such as addition, multiplication, involution, or differentiation, in which one or more numbers or quantities are operated upon according to specific rules
- a function from a set onto itself
- a commercial or financial transaction
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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 operation
n.
late 14c., "action, performance, work," also "the performance of some science or art," from Old French operacion "operation, working, proceedings," from Latin operationem (nominative operatio) "a working, operation," from past participle stem of operari "to work, labor" (in Late Latin "to have effect, be active, cause"), from opera "work, effort," related to opus (genitive operis) "a work" (see opus). The surgical sense is first attested 1590s. Military sense of "series of movements and acts" is from 1749.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
operation
(ŏp′ə-rā′shən)- A surgical procedure, usually using instruments, for remedying an injury, ailment, defect, or dysfunction.
- The act, manner, or process of functioning.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
operation
[ŏp′ə-rā′shən]
- Medicine A surgical procedure for remedying an injury, ailment, defect, or dysfunction.
- Mathematics A process or action, such as addition, substitution, transposition, or differentiation, performed in a specified sequence and in accordance with specific rules.
- A logical operation.
- Computer Science An action resulting from a single instruction.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.