surgery

American  

[sur-juh-ree] / ˈsɜr dʒə ri /

noun

surgeries plural

1. the art, practice, or work of treating diseases, injuries, or deformities by manual or operative procedures.

2. the branch of medicine concerned with such treatment.

3. treatment, as an operation, performed by a surgeon.

4. a room or place for surgical operations.

5. British. a doctor's or dentist's office or office hours.

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surgery British  

/ ˈsɜːdʒərɪ /

noun

1. the branch of medicine concerned with treating disease, injuries, etc, by means of manual or operative procedures, esp by incision into the body

2. the performance of such procedures by a surgeon

3. a place where a doctor, dentist, etc, can be consulted

4. an occasion when an MP, lawyer, etc, is available for consultation

5. an operating theatre where surgical operations are performed

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• presurgery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• surgeries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of surgery

1250–1300; Middle English surgerie < Old French cirurgerie chirurgery

Explanation

Surgery is a medical procedure, usually involving an incision and instruments. A surgery is done to fix or prevent a health problem. There are a lot of kinds of surgery in the world. Some are very serious, like brain surgery and heart surgery. Others are minor, like getting your appendix removed. In most cases, you'll be unconscious for surgery, to make it easier for the surgeon to get the job done. You can also call the room where surgeries are done a surgery, and talk about the field of surgery.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surgery surgeries

"The cancer was removed, but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public," she said in a heartfelt statement.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Bon Jovi’s “Forever” tour is the first since the namesake frontman had surgery to repair a vocal cord injury in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

The Ballon d'Or winner was back to his best at the World Cup but, speaking at his first news conference since being appointed City boss, Maresca said the player now needs surgery followed by recuperation.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Biliary atresia is the leading cause of pediatric liver transplants and currently has no approved therapeutic options beyond surgery or liver transplant, Ipsen said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

I’d never undergone any kind of surgery, and to be honest, I was terrified.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

After three replacement surgeries, she said, "I assumed my difficulty walking was simply an unfortunate and rather ironic part of the recovery process."

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

At the time, care homes, GP surgeries and pharmacies were all expected to source their own PPE, something the report described as a "major failure in planning".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Ashley Turner said the doctors had told her family that her father was recovering quickly and, with hope, would get to go home after two more surgeries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

His Costco health insurance covered the full cost of his wife’s three brain surgeries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

She had since read on the Internet that you could take girl hormones that would change your body, and you could get a bunch of different surgeries if you wanted them and had the money.

From "George" by Alex Gino