operation

American  

[op-uh-ray-shuhn] / ˌɒp əˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• operations
  plural

1. an act or instance, process, or manner of functioning or operating.

2. the state of being operative (usually preceded by in orinto ).

   a rule no longer in operation.

3. the power to act; efficacy, influence, or force.

4. the exertion of force, power, or influence; agency.

   the operation of alcohol on the mind.

5. a process of a practical or mechanical nature in some form of work or production.

   a delicate operation in watchmaking.

6. a course or procedure of productive or industrial activity.

   building operations.

7. a particular process or course.

   mental operations.

8. a business transaction, especially one of a speculative nature; deal.

   a shady operation.

9. a business, especially one run on a large scale.

   a multinational operation.

10. 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.

11. Mathematics.

    1. a mathematical process, as addition, multiplication, or differentiation.

    2. the action of applying a mathematical process to a quantity or quantities.

12. Computers. any discrete activity or action that is performed by a computer, as reading, writing, processing, sending, or receiving data.

    The http request operation has timed out.

13. Military.

    1. a campaign, mission, maneuver, or action.

    2. Usually operations the conduct of a campaign, mission, etc.

    3. 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.

    4. operations, the people who work at such a headquarters.

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operation British  

/ ˌɒpəˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the act, process, or manner of operating

2. the state of being in effect, in action, or operative (esp in the phrases in or into operation )

3. a process, method, or series of acts, esp of a practical or mechanical nature

4. 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

5. 1. a military or naval action, such as a campaign, manoeuvre, etc

   2. ( capital and prenominal when part of a name )

      Operation Crossbow

6. maths

   1. any procedure, such as addition, multiplication, involution, or differentiation, in which one or more numbers or quantities are operated upon according to specific rules

   2. a function from a set onto itself

7. a commercial or financial transaction

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operation Scientific  

/ ŏp′ə-rā′shən /

1. Medicine A surgical procedure for remedying an injury, ailment, defect, or dysfunction.

2. Mathematics A process or action, such as addition, substitution, transposition, or differentiation, performed in a specified sequence and in accordance with specific rules.

3. A logical operation.

4. Computer Science An action resulting from a single instruction.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misoperation
  noun
• preoperation
  noun
• reoperation
  noun
• suboperation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• operations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of operation

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English operacioun, oparacion, operation, from Latin operātiōn- (stem of operātiō ), equivalent to operāt(us) + -iōn- noun suffix of action or condition; see origin at operate

Explanation

Operation can refer to medical surgery, a military campaign, or mathematical methods, such as multiplication and division. Operation comes from the Latin word opus (“work”) and can refer to a whole range of practical activities and work. In driver's education, you learn the proper operation of a motor vehicle. If you’re going to make your lemonade franchise a success, you’re going to have to learn the rules for prudent operation of a business — how to run it — and you’ll also have to figure out the operation of a lemon squeezer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

operation operations

"It operates seven days a week, all year round, bar Christmas Day, and so its a seven day a week operation," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Bloys wasn’t interested in partnering with another executive to run the streaming operation and had made that clear to Paramount, people familiar with his thinking said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

More than 3,300 firefighters took part in the operation, which officials described as the largest firefighting effort in modern French civil security history.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Larger cities like Houston and Dallas shuttered grant-funded cameras while leaving much of their networks in operation, while Plano, Robinson and Kendall County were among those that ended their Flock contracts entirely.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

Thankfully, he’d let me move the operation from the litter box into the shop in the basement.

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Fire patrols and operations are from about 10 am to 1 pm, "then working at home again until night", she said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

More than 800 officers took part in the arrest operations in the early hours of Tuesday.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Among the new hires were former Walmart officials Mark Ibbotson and Nate Faust to run operations and e-commerce, respectively.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

U.S. operations are critical not just to avoid Trump administration tariffs but also to get closer to its U.S. clients, who account for three-quarters of its revenue.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Dad had wanted her to watch the operations, but she said she couldn’t.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Related Words

• action
• activity
• affair
• agency
• application
• deal
• effort
• enterprise
• exercise
• force
• movement
• procedure
• process
• service
• transaction
• trip
• use
• work