surgical
Things that are surgical have something to do with an operation performed by a surgeon, or something done with the level of precision a surgeon exercises. So, you could wear surgical scrubs or conduct a surgical strike.
A surgical resident is a doctor who's learning to specialize in performing surgery, and the surgical wing of a hospital is the area where surgery is performed. Because what a surgeon does requires such precision and care, the adjective is also used to describe anything done carefully: "Surgical bombing is supposed to be much more precise, with narrow military targets."
Definitions of surgical
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of or relating to or involving or used in surgery
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relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine“a surgical appendix”“a surgical procedure”
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synonyms:
operative
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preoperative
happening or done before and in preparation for a surgical operation
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postoperative
happening or done after a surgical operation
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Antonyms:
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medical
requiring or amenable to treatment by medicine especially as opposed to surgery
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preoperative
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performed with great precision“a surgical air strike”
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Synonyms:
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accurate
conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy
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accurate
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘surgical'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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