operation

Primary Meanings of operation

1.	n	process or manner of functioning or operating
2.	n	(mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods
3.	n	(psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents
4.	n	a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body

Full Definitions of operation

n process or manner of functioning or operating

“the power of its engine determines its operation”

“the plane's operation in high winds”

Synonyms:: functioning, performance

Type of:: physical process, process
a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states

n a process or series of acts especially of a practical or mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work

“the operations in building a house”

“certain machine tool operations”

Synonyms:: procedure

Type of:: work
activity directed toward making or doing something

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

“her smooth operation of the vehicle gave us a surprisingly comfortable ride”

Type of:: activity
any specific behavior

n the state of being in effect or being operative

“that rule is no longer in operation”

Types:: commission
the state of being in good working order and ready for operation; running
the state of being in operation; idle
the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

Type of:: action, activeness, activity
the state of being active

n a business especially one run on a large scale

“a large-scale farming operation”

“a multinational operation”

“they paid taxes on every stage of the operation”

“they had to consolidate their operations”

Type of:: business activity, commercial activity
activity undertaken as part of a commercial enterprise

n a planned activity involving many people performing various actions

“they organized a rescue operation”

“the biggest police operation in French history”

“running a restaurant is quite an operation”

“consolidate the companies various operations”

Types:: rescue operation
an operation organized to free from danger or confinement; undercover operation
an operation involving secret work within a community or institution; buy-and-bust operation
an undercover operation by narcotics detectives to catch unsuspecting drug dealers

Type of:: activity
any specific behavior

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

“it was a joint operation of the navy and air force”

Synonyms:: military operation

Examples:: Meuse-Argonne operation
an American operation in World War I (1918); American troops under Pershing drove back the German armies which were saved only by the armistice on November 11; Operation Desert Storm
the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991)

Types:: show 38 types...; hide 38 types...; combined operation
a military operation carried out cooperatively by two or more allied nations or a military operation carried out by coordination of sea, land, and air forces; maneuver, manoeuvre, simulated military operation
a military training exercise; campaign, military campaign
several related operations aimed at achieving a particular goal (usually within geographical and temporal constraints); naval campaign
an operation conducted primarily by naval forces in order to gain or extend or maintain control of the sea; military mission, mission
an operation that is assigned by a higher headquarters; reenforcement, reinforcement, support
a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission; attack, onrush, onset, onslaught
(military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons); offence, offense, offensive
the action of attacking an enemy; peacekeeping, peacekeeping mission, peacekeeping operation
the activity of keeping the peace by military forces (especially when international military forces enforce a truce between hostile groups or nations); amphibious operation
a military operation by both land and sea forces; information gathering
the act of collecting information; psychological operation, psyop
military actions designed to influence the perceptions and attitudes of individuals, groups, and foreign governments; covert operation
an intelligence operation so planned as to permit plausible denial by the sponsor; expedition, hostile expedition, military expedition
a military campaign designed to achieve a specific objective in a foreign country; combat mission
a mission to capture or defend something; search mission
a mission to discover something; search and destroy mission
an operation developed for United States troops in Vietnam; troops would move through a designated area destroying troops as they found them; close support
close-in firing by one unit against an enemy engaged by another unit; direct support
a mission requiring one force to support another specific force and authorizing it to answer directly the supported force's request for assistance; amphibious demonstration
an amphibious operation conducted for the purpose of deceiving the enemy and leading him into a course of action unfavorable to him; ground attack
an attack by ground troops; charge
an impetuous rush toward someone or something; banzai attack, banzai charge
a mass attack of troops without concern for casualties; originated by Japanese who accompanied it with yells of `banzai'; diversion, diversionary attack
an attack calculated to draw enemy defense away from the point of the principal attack; incursion, penetration
an attack that penetrates into enemy territory; blitz, blitzkrieg
a swift and violent military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment; strike
an attack that is intended to seize or inflict damage on or destroy an objective; counterattack, countermove
an attack by a defending force against an attacking enemy force in order to regain lost ground or cut off enemy advance units etc.; bombardment, bombing
an attack by dropping bombs; counteroffensive
a large scale offensive (more than a counterattack) undertaken by a defending force to seize the initiative from an attacking force; dirty war
an offensive conducted by secret police or the military of a regime against revolutionary and terrorist insurgents and marked by the use of kidnapping and torture and murder with civilians often being the victims; push back, rollback
the act of forcing the enemy to withdraw; amphibious assault
an amphibious operation attacking a land base that is carried out by troops that are landed by naval ships; intelligence, intelligence activity, intelligence operation
the operation of gathering information about an enemy; black operation
a covert operation not attributable to the organization carrying it out; fire, firing
the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy; strafe
an attack of machine-gun fire or cannon fire from a low flying airplane; coup de main, surprise attack
an attack without warning

Type of:: activity
any specific behavior

n (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods

“they were learning the basic operations of arithmetic”

Synonyms:: mathematical operation, mathematical process

Types:: show 19 types...; hide 19 types...; permutation
the act of changing the arrangement of a given number of elements; combination
the act of arranging elements into specified groups without regard to order; differentiation
the mathematical process of obtaining the derivative of a function; maximisation, maximization
the mathematical process of finding the maximum value of a function; integration
an operation used in the calculus whereby the integral of a function is determined; exponentiation, involution
the process of raising a quantity to some assigned power; arithmetic operation
a mathematical operation involving numbers; matrix operation
a mathematical operation involving matrices; construction
drawing a figure satisfying certain conditions as part of solving a problem or proving a theorem; relaxation, relaxation method
a method of solving simultaneous equations by guessing a solution and then reducing the errors that result by successive approximations until all the errors are less than some specified amount; division
an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of multiplication; the quotient of two numbers is computed; multiplication, times
an arithmetic operation that is the inverse of division; the product of two numbers is computed; minus, subtraction
an arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated; addition, plus, summation
the arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers; matrix addition
the addition of matrices; matrix multiplication
the multiplication of matrices; matrix inversion
determination of a matrix that when multiplied by the given matrix will yield a unit matrix; matrix transposition
the interchange of each row of a square matrix with the corresponding column; quadrature
the construction of a square having the same area as some other figure

Type of:: calculation, computation, computing
the procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods

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

“it can perform millions of operations per second”

Types:: show 27 types...; hide 27 types...; access, memory access
(computer science) the operation of reading or writing stored information; asynchronous operation
operations that occur without a regular or predictable time relation to other events; auxiliary operation, off-line operation
a operation performed by off-line equipment not under the control of the central processing unit; binary arithmetic operation, binary operation, boolean operation
an operation that follows the rules of Boolean algebra; each operand and the result take one of two values; computer operation, machine operation
an elementary operation that a computer is designed and built to perform; concurrent operation
two or more operations performed at the same time (or within a give interval); control function, control operation
an operation that controls the recording or processing or transmission of interpretation of data; dyadic operation
an operation on exactly two operands; fixed-cycle operation
an operation that is completed in a specified number of regularly timed execution cycles; logic operation, logical operation
an operation that follows the rules of symbolic logic; monadic operation, unary operation
an operation with exactly one operand; multiplex operation
an operation in which two or more activities are interleaved; parallel operation, simultaneous operation
the simultaneous execution of two or more operations; printing operation
an operation that controls the printing or display of information; lookup, search
an operation that determines whether one or more of a set of items has a specified property; consecutive operation, sequential operation, serial operation
the sequential execution of operations one after another; sort, sorting
an operation that segregates items into groups according to a specified criterion; synchronous operation
operations that are initiated predictably by a clock; threshold operation
an operation performed on operands in order to obtain the value of a threshold function; disk access
memory access to the computer disk on which information is stored; carriage return
the operation that prepares for the next character to be printed or displayed as the first character on a line; floating-point operation, flop
an arithmetic operation performed on floating-point numbers; line feed
the operation that prepares for the next character to be printed or displayed on the next line; majority operation
a threshold operation in which each operand is 0 or 1; output is 1 if and only if more than half the operands have the value 1; new line
the operation that prepares for the next character to be printed or displayed as the first character on the next line; retrieval
(computer science) the operation of accessing information from the computer's memory; storage
(computer science) the process of storing information in a computer memory or on a magnetic tape or disk

Type of:: data processing
(computer science) a series of operations on data by a computer in order to retrieve or transform or classify information

n (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents

Synonyms:: cognitive operation, cognitive process, mental process, process

Types:: show 19 types...; hide 19 types...; basic cognitive process
cognitive processes involved in obtaining and storing knowledge; higher cognitive process
cognitive processes that presuppose the availability of knowledge and put it to use; attending, attention
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others; inattention
lack of attention; intuition
instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes); perception
the process of perceiving; apperception
the process whereby perceived qualities of an object are related to past experience; believing
the cognitive process that leads to convictions; categorisation, categorization, classification, sorting
the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories; discrimination, secernment
the cognitive process whereby two or more stimuli are distinguished; acquisition, learning
the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge; memory, remembering
the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered; representational process
any basic cognitive process in which some entity comes to stand for or represent something else; search
the examination of alternative hypotheses; cerebration, intellection, mentation, thinking, thought, thought process
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully; suggestion
the sequential mental process in which one thought leads to another by association; deciding, decision making
the cognitive process of reaching a decision; knowing
a clear and certain mental apprehension; language, linguistic process
the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication

Type of:: cognition, knowledge, noesis
the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning

n a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body

“they will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available”

Synonyms:: surgery, surgical operation, surgical procedure, surgical process

Types:: show 137 types...; hide 137 types...; catheterisation, catheterization
the operation of introducing a catheter into the body; ablation, cutting out, excision, extirpation
surgical removal of a body part or tissue; amputation
a surgical removal of all or part of a limb; angioplasty
an operation to repair a damaged blood vessel or unblock a coronary artery; arthroplasty
surgical reconstruction or replacement of a malformed or degenerated joint; arthroscopy
a minimally invasive operation to repair a damaged joint; the surgeon examines the joint with an arthroscope while making repairs through a small incision; brain surgery
any surgical procedure involving the brain; castration
surgical removal of the testes or ovaries (usually to inhibit hormone secretion in cases of breast cancer in women or prostate cancer in men); cauterisation, cauterization, cautery
the act of coagulating blood and destroying tissue with a hot iron or caustic agent or by freezing; chemosurgery
use of chemical to destroy diseased or malignant tissue; used in treatment of skin cancer; craniotomy
a surgical opening through the skull; cryosurgery
the use of extreme cold (usually liquid nitrogen) to destroy unwanted tissue (warts or cataracts or skin cancers); curettage, curettement
surgery to remove tissue or growths from a bodily cavity (as the uterus) by scraping with a curette; debridement
surgical removal of foreign material and dead tissue from a wound in order to prevent infection and promote healing; decortication
removal of the outer covering of an organ or part; D and C, dilatation and curettage, dilation and curettage
a surgical procedure usually performed under local anesthesia in which the cervix is dilated and the endometrial lining of the uterus is scraped with a curet; performed to obtain tissue samples or to stop prolonged bleeding or to remove small tumors or to remove fragments of placenta after childbirth or as a method of abortion; electrosurgery
surgery performed with electrical devices (as in electrocautery); enterostomy, enterotomy
surgical operation that creates a permanent opening through the abdominal wall into the intestine; enucleation
surgical removal of something without cutting into it; wrong-site surgery
a surgical operation performed on the wrong part of the body; evisceration
surgical removal of an organ (or the contents of an organ) from a patient; exenteration
surgical removal of the organs within a body cavity (as those of the pelvis); eye operation, eye surgery
any surgical procedure involving the eyes; fenestration
surgical procedure that creates a new fenestra to the cochlea in order to restore hearing lost because of osteosclerosis; gastrectomy
surgical removal of all or part of the stomach; gastroenterostomy
surgical creation of an opening between the stomach wall and the small intestines; performed when the normal opening has been eliminated; gastrostomy
surgical creation of an opening through the abdominal wall into the stomach (as for gastrogavage); heart surgery
any surgical procedure involving the heart; haemorrhoidectomy, hemorrhoidectomy
surgical procedure for tying hemorrhoids and excising them; hysterotomy
surgical incision into the uterus (as in cesarean section); implantation
a surgical procedure that places something in the human body; intestinal bypass
surgical operation that shortens the small intestine; used in treating obesity; jejunostomy
surgical creation of an opening between the jejunum and the anterior abdominal wall; will allow artificial feeding; major surgery
any surgical procedure that involves anesthesia or respiratory assistance; microsurgery
surgery using operating microscopes and miniaturized precision instruments to perform intricate procedures on very small structures; minor surgery
any surgical procedure that does not involve anesthesia or respiratory assistance; myotomy
surgical incision or division of a muscle; myringectomy
surgical removal of the eardrum; myringoplasty
surgical repair of a perforated eardrum with a tissue graft; myringotomy
surgical incision into the eardrum (to relieve pressure or release pus from the middle ear); neurosurgery
any surgery that involves the nervous system (brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves); orchiopexy
operation to bring an undescended testicle into the scrotum; osteotomy
surgical sectioning of bone; ostomy
surgical procedure that creates an artificial opening for the elimination of bodily wastes; PPP, UPPP, palatopharyngoplasty, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
surgical resection of unnecessary palatal and oropharyngeal tissue to open the airway; intended to cure extreme cases of snoring (with or without sleep apnea); phlebectomy
surgical removal or all or part of a vein; sometimes done in cases of severe varicose veins; photocoagulation
surgical procedure that uses an intense laser beam to destroy diseased retinal tissue or to make a scar that will hold the retina in cases of detached retina; anaplasty, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery
surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue; polypectomy
surgical removal of a polyp; resection
surgical removal of part of a structure or organ; rhinotomy
surgical procedure in which an incision is made in the nose to drain accumulated pus; rhizotomy
surgical procedure in which spinal nerve roots are cut; done (anterior roots) to relieve intractable pain or (posterior roots) to stop severe muscle spasms; sex-change operation, transsexual surgery
surgical procedures and hormonal treatments designed to alter a person's sexual characteristics so that the resemble those of the opposite sex; Shirodkar's operation, purse-string operation
a surgical procedure in which a suture is used to close the cervix in a pregnant woman; is performed when the cervix has failed to retain previous pregnancies; sterilisation, sterilization
the act of making an organism barren or infertile (unable to reproduce); strabotomy
the surgical operation of cutting a muscle or tendon of the eye in order to correct strabismus; taxis
the surgical procedure of manually restoring a displaced body part; tracheostomy, tracheotomy
a surgical operation that creates an opening into the trachea with a tube inserted to provide a passage for air; performed when the pharynx is obstructed by edema or cancer or other causes; organ transplant, transplant, transplantation
an operation moving an organ from one organism (the donor) to another (the recipient); trephination
an operation that removes a circular section of bone from the skull; tympanoplasty
surgical correction or repair of defects or injuries in the eardrum or the bones of the middle ear; uranoplasty
surgical correction of a defect of the palate; vasovasostomy
a surgical procedure that attempts to restore the function of the vas deferens after a vasectomy; vivisection
the act of operating on living animals (especially in scientific research); abdominoplasty, tummy tuck
cosmetic surgery of the abdomen to remove wrinkles and tighten the skin over the stomach; adenoidectomy
surgical removal of the adenoids; commonly performed along with tonsillectomy; adrenalectomy, suprarenalectomy
surgical removal of one or both adrenal glands; appendectomy, appendicectomy
surgical removal of the vermiform appendix; arthrodesis
the surgical fixation of a joint which is intended to result in bone fusion; autoplasty
surgical repair by using tissue from another part of the patient's own body; psychosurgery
brain surgery on human patients intended to relieve severe and otherwise intractable mental or behavioral problems; split-brain technique
brain surgery on animals in which the corpus callosum (and sometimes the optic chiasm) is severed so that communication between the cerebral hemispheres is interrupted; colostomy
a surgical operation that creates an opening from the colon to the surface of the body to function as an anus; cholecystectomy
surgical removal of the gall bladder (usually for relief of gallstone pain); clitoridectomy, female circumcision
excision of the clitoris; suction curettage, vacuum aspiration
a method of induced abortion; prior to the 14th week of gestation the embryo and placenta are removed by applying suction to the dilated cervix; embolectomy
surgical removal of an embolus (usually from an artery); endarterectomy
surgical removal of the inner lining of an artery that is clogged with atherosclerosis; enervation
surgical removal of a nerve; cosmetic surgery, face lift, face lifting, facelift, lift, nip and tuck, rhytidectomy, rhytidoplasty
plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face; an incision is made near the hair line and skin is pulled back and excess tissue is excised; closed-heart surgery
heart surgery in which a small incision is made (the chest cavity is not opened); open-heart surgery
heart surgery in which the rib cage is spread open, the heart is stopped and blood is detoured through a heart-lung machine while a heart valve or coronary artery is surgically repaired; hypophysectomy
surgical removal of the pituitary gland; hysterectomy
surgical removal of the uterus; cataract surgery
eye surgery that involves removing all or part of the lens and replacing it with an intraocular lens implant; cyclodestructive surgery
an eye operation that treats glaucoma by destroying the ciliary body with a laser; filtration surgery
eye surgery that opens a passage allowing excess aqueous humor to drain into surrounding tissues; a treatment for glaucoma; iridectomy
an eye operation that treats closed-angle glaucoma by surgical removal of part of the iris of the eye; iridotomy
a surgical procedure that makes an incision in the iris of the eye in order to enlarge the pupil or to treat closed-angle glaucoma; keratotomy
surgical incision into the cornea; LASEK, laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis
a refractive surgery procedure that reshapes the cornea; laser trabecular surgery
eye surgery that makes many tiny laser burns in an area that will increase the drainage of aqueous humor; LASIK, laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis
a refractive surgery procedure that reshapes the cornea; vitrectomy
a surgical procedure that removes the vitreous humor and replace it with saline solution; ileostomy
surgical procedure that creates an opening from the ileum through the abdominal wall to function as an anus; performed in cases of cancer of the colon or ulcerative colitis; corneal graft, corneal transplant, keratoplasty
a surgical procedure in which part or all of a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by healthy corneal tissue from a donor; lipectomy, selective lipectomy
plastic surgery involving the breakdown and removal of fatty tissue; mastopexy
plastic surgery to lift or reshape the breasts; neuroplasty
plastic surgery of the nerves; otoplasty
reconstructive surgery of the auricle of the external ear; laminectomy
surgical removal of the bony arches on one or more vertebrae; laryngectomy
surgical removal of part or all of the larynx (usually to treat cancer of the larynx); lithotomy
surgical removal of a stone (calculus); lobectomy
surgical removal of a lobe from any organ of the body (as the lung or brain); lumpectomy
surgical removal of a tumor without removing much of the surrounding tissue or lymph nodes; performed in some cases of breast cancer; robotic telesurgery
microsurgery in which the surgeon performs surgery by manipulating the hands of a robot; mastectomy
surgical removal of a breast to remove a malignant tumor; mastoidectomy
surgical removal of some or all of the mastoid process; meniscectomy
surgical removal of the meniscus of the knee; nephrectomy
surgical removal of a kidney; neurectomy
surgical removal of all or part of a nerve; oophorectomy, ovariectomy
surgical removal of one of both ovaries; oophorosalpingectomy
surgical removal of one or both ovaries and the corresponding Fallopian tubes; ophthalmectomy
surgical removal of an eye; orchidectomy, orchiectomy
surgical removal of one or both testicles; pancreatectomy
surgical removal of part or all of the pancreas; pneumonectomy
surgical removal of a lung (usually to treat lung cancer); prostatectomy
surgical removal of part or all of the prostate gland; salpingectomy
surgical removal of one or both Fallopian tubes; septectomy
surgical removal of all or part of a septum (especially the nasal septum or atrial septum); sigmoidectomy
surgical removal of part or all of the sigmoid colon (usually to remove a malignant tumor); splenectomy
surgical removal of the spleen; stapedectomy
surgical removal of the stapes of the middle ear; sympathectomy
surgical interruption of a nerve pathway in the sympathetic nervous system; thrombectomy
surgical removal of a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel; thyroidectomy
surgical removal of the thyroid gland; tonsillectomy
surgical removal of the palatine tonsils; commonly performed along with adenoidectomy; phalloplasty
reconstructive surgery on the penis to repair congenital abnormality or injury; proctoplasty, rectoplasty
reconstructive surgery of the anus or rectum; altering, fixing, neutering
the sterilization of an animal; TURP, transurethral resection of the prostate
removal of significant amounts of prostate tissue (as in cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia); cryocautery
application of a substance that destroys tissue by freezing it; thermocautery
cautery (destruction of tissue) by heat; vasectomy
surgical procedure that removes all or part of the vas deferens (usually as a means of sterilization); is sometimes reversible; vulvectomy
surgical removal of part or all of the vulva; surgical contraception
contraception by surgical sterilization; xenotransplant, xenotransplantation
a surgical procedure in which tissue or whole organs are transfered from one species to another species

Type of:: medical procedure
a procedure employed by medical or dental practitioners