Meaning of operation in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/

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  1. Noun

    operation

    Etymology

    late Middle English: via Old French from Latin operatio(n-), from the verb operari‘expend labor on’ (see operate)

    Definitions

    1. a business especially one run on a large scale

    Examples

    • « a large-scale farming operation »
    • « a multinational operation »
    • « they paid taxes on every stage of the operation »
    • « they had to consolidate their operations »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. a planned activity involving many people performing various actions

    Examples

    • « they organized a rescue operation »
    • « the biggest police operation in French history »
    • « running a restaurant is quite an operation »
    • « consolidate the companies various operations »
  3. 3. a process or series of acts especially of a practical or mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work

    Examples

    • « the operations in building a house »
    • « certain machine tool operations »

    Derived terms

  4. 4. the state of being in effect or being operative

    Examples

    • « that rule is no longer in operation »

    Derived terms

  5. 5. a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments

    Examples

    • « performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body »
    • « they will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available »
    • « he died while undergoing surgery »

    Derived terms

  6. 6. activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign)

    Examples

    • « it was a joint operation of the navy and air force »

    Derived terms

  7. 7. (computer science) data processing in which the result is completely specified by a rule (especially the processing that results from a single instruction)

    Examples

    • « it can perform millions of operations per second »
  8. 8. process or manner of functioning or operating

    Examples

    • « the power of its engine determine its operation »
    • « the plane's operation in high winds »
    • « they compared the cooking performance of each oven »
    • « the jet's performance conformed to high standards »

    Derived terms

  9. 9. (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods

    Examples

    • « the problems at the end of the chapter demonstrated the mathematical processes involved in the derivation »
    • « they were learning the basic operations of arithmetic »
  10. 10. (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity

    Examples

    • « an operation that affects mental contents »
    • « the process of thinking »
    • « the cognitive operation of remembering »

    Derived terms

  11. 11. the activity of operating something (a machine or business etc.)

    Examples

    • « her smooth operation of the vehicle gave us a surprisingly comfortable ride »

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life. »
    George Bernard Shaw
  • « I think Operation Smile is in more than 22 countries, mostly Third World. It just happened that my schedule opened up at the time they were heading to Vietnam. »
    Roma Downey
  • « Is the proposed operation likely to succeed? What might the consequences of failure? Is it in the realm of practicability in terms of material and supplies? »
    Chester W. Nimitz
  • « When you're told to go brief a United States senator on a covert operation, you go do it. And you trust the information isn't going to leak. »
    Oliver North
  • « Jessica Simpson is the youth ambassador for Operation Smile, and an episode of The Apprentice featured a team managing a charity concert she put on. Donald Trump came on stage and pledged a donation. »
    Roma Downey

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