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.

Definitions of operation
  1. noun
    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
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    type of:
    physical process, process
  2. noun
    “the operations in building a house”
    “certain machine tool operations
    synonyms: procedure
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    type of:
    activity directed toward making or doing something
  3. noun
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    type of:
    any specific behavior
  4. noun
    the state of being in effect or being operative
    “that rule is no longer in operation
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    the state of being in good working order and ready for operation
    the state of being in operation
    the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling
    type of:
    action, activeness, activity
    the state of being active
  5. noun
    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
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    type of:
    business activity, commercial activity
    activity undertaken as part of a commercial enterprise
  6. noun
    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
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    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:
    any specific behavior
  7. noun
    “it was a joint operation of the navy and air force”
    synonyms: military operation
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    Meuse-Argonne operation
    Operation Desert Storm
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    combined operation
    maneuver, manoeuvre, simulated military operation
    a military training exercise
    campaign, military campaign
    naval campaign
    military mission, mission
    an operation that is assigned by a higher headquarters
    reenforcement, reinforcement, support
    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
    amphibious operation
    a military operation by both land and sea forces
    information gathering
    the act of collecting information
    psychological operation, psyop
    covert operation
    expedition, hostile expedition, military expedition
    combat mission
    a mission to capture or defend something
    search mission
    a mission to discover something
    search and destroy mission
    close support
    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
    ground attack
    an attack by ground troops
    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
    incursion, penetration
    an attack that penetrates into enemy territory
    blitz, blitzkrieg
    a swift and violent military offensive with intensive aerial bombardment
    counterattack, countermove
    bombardment, bombing
    an attack by dropping bombs
    dirty war
    push back, rollback
    the act of forcing the enemy to withdraw
    amphibious assault
    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
    coup de main, surprise attack
    an attack without warning
    type of:
    any specific behavior
  8. noun
    (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods
    “they were learning the basic operations of arithmetic”
    synonyms: mathematical operation, mathematical process
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    the act of changing the arrangement of a given number of elements
    the act of arranging elements into specified groups without regard to order
    the mathematical process of obtaining the derivative of a function
    maximisation, maximization
    the mathematical process of finding the maximum value of a function
    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
    relaxation, relaxation method
    multiplication, times
    minus, subtraction
    an arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated
    addition, plus, summation
    matrix addition
    the addition of matrices
    matrix multiplication
    the multiplication of matrices
    matrix inversion
    matrix transposition
    the interchange of each row of a square matrix with the corresponding column
    type of:
    calculation, computation, computing
    the procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods
  9. noun
    “it can perform millions of operations per second”
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    access, memory access
    (computer science) the operation of reading or writing stored information
    asynchronous operation
    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
    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
    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
    new line
    the operation that prepares for the next character to be printed or displayed as the first character on the next line
    type of:
    data processing
  10. noun
    synonyms: cognitive operation, cognitive process, mental process, process
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    basic cognitive process
    cognitive processes involved in obtaining and storing knowledge
    higher cognitive process
    attending, attention
    lack of attention
    instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes)
    the process of perceiving
    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
    the examination of alternative hypotheses
    cerebration, intellection, mentation, thinking, thought, thought process
    the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
    deciding, decision making
    the cognitive process of reaching a decision
    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
  11. noun
    “they will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available”
    synonyms: surgery, surgical operation, surgical procedure, surgical process
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    catheterisation, catheterization
    the operation of introducing a catheter into the body
    ablation, cutting out, excision, extirpation
    surgical removal of a body part or tissue
    a surgical removal of all or part of a limb
    surgical reconstruction or replacement of a malformed or degenerated joint
    brain surgery
    any surgical procedure involving the brain
    cauterisation, cauterization, cautery
    use of chemical to destroy diseased or malignant tissue; used in treatment of skin cancer
    a surgical opening through the skull
    curettage, curettement
    removal of the outer covering of an organ or part
    D and C, dilatation and curettage, dilation and curettage
    surgery performed with electrical devices (as in electrocautery)
    enterostomy, enterotomy
    surgical operation that creates a permanent opening through the abdominal wall into the intestine
    surgical removal of something without cutting into it
    wrong-site surgery
    a surgical operation performed on the wrong part of the body
    surgical removal of an organ (or the contents of an organ) from a patient
    surgical removal of the organs within a body cavity (as those of the pelvis)
    eye operation, eye surgery
    any surgical procedure involving the eyes
    surgical procedure that creates a new fenestra to the cochlea in order to restore hearing lost because of osteosclerosis
    surgical removal of all or part of the stomach
    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
    surgical incision into the uterus (as in cesarean section)
    a surgical procedure that places something in the human body
    intestinal bypass
    surgical operation that shortens the small intestine; used in treating obesity
    major surgery
    any surgical procedure that involves anesthesia or respiratory assistance
    minor surgery
    any surgical procedure that does not involve anesthesia or respiratory assistance
    surgical incision or division of a muscle
    surgical removal of the eardrum
    surgical repair of a perforated eardrum with a tissue graft
    surgical incision into the eardrum (to relieve pressure or release pus from the middle ear)
    operation to bring an undescended testicle into the scrotum
    surgical sectioning of bone
    PPP, UPPP, palatopharyngoplasty, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
    surgical removal or all or part of a vein; sometimes done in cases of severe varicose veins
    anaplasty, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery
    surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue
    surgical removal of a polyp
    surgical removal of part of a structure or organ
    sex-change operation, transsexual surgery
    Shirodkar's operation, purse-string operation
    sterilisation, sterilization
    the surgical operation of cutting a muscle or tendon of the eye in order to correct strabismus
    the surgical procedure of manually restoring a displaced body part
    tracheostomy, tracheotomy
    organ transplant, transplant, transplantation
    an operation that removes a circular section of bone from the skull
    surgical correction of a defect of the palate
    abdominoplasty, tummy tuck
    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
    brain surgery on human patients intended to relieve severe and otherwise intractable mental or behavioral problems
    split-brain technique
    clitoridectomy, female circumcision
    excision of the clitoris
    suction curettage, vacuum aspiration
    surgical removal of an embolus (usually from an artery)
    surgical removal of a nerve
    cosmetic surgery, face lift, face lifting, facelift, lift, nip and tuck, rhytidectomy, rhytidoplasty
    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
    surgical removal of the pituitary gland
    surgical removal of the uterus
    cataract surgery
    cyclodestructive surgery
    an eye operation that treats glaucoma by destroying the ciliary body with a laser
    filtration surgery
    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
    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
    a surgical procedure that removes the vitreous humor and replace it with saline solution
    corneal graft, corneal transplant, keratoplasty
    lipectomy, selective lipectomy
    plastic surgery involving the breakdown and removal of fatty tissue
    plastic surgery to lift or reshape the breasts
    plastic surgery of the nerves
    reconstructive surgery of the auricle of the external ear
    surgical removal of the bony arches on one or more vertebrae
    surgical removal of part or all of the larynx (usually to treat cancer of the larynx)
    surgical removal of a stone (calculus)
    surgical removal of a lobe from any organ of the body (as the lung or brain)
    robotic telesurgery
    microsurgery in which the surgeon performs surgery by manipulating the hands of a robot
    surgical removal of a breast to remove a malignant tumor
    surgical removal of some or all of the mastoid process
    surgical removal of the meniscus of the knee
    surgical removal of a kidney
    surgical removal of all or part of a nerve
    oophorectomy, ovariectomy
    surgical removal of one of both ovaries
    surgical removal of one or both ovaries and the corresponding Fallopian tubes
    surgical removal of an eye
    orchidectomy, orchiectomy
    surgical removal of one or both testicles
    surgical removal of part or all of the pancreas
    surgical removal of a lung (usually to treat lung cancer)
    surgical removal of part or all of the prostate gland
    surgical removal of one or both Fallopian tubes
    surgical removal of all or part of a septum (especially the nasal septum or atrial septum)
    surgical removal of part or all of the sigmoid colon (usually to remove a malignant tumor)
    surgical removal of the spleen
    surgical removal of the stapes of the middle ear
    surgical interruption of a nerve pathway in the sympathetic nervous system
    surgical removal of a blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel
    surgical removal of the thyroid gland
    surgical removal of the palatine tonsils; commonly performed along with adenoidectomy
    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
    application of a substance that destroys tissue by freezing it
    cautery (destruction of tissue) by heat
    surgical removal of part or all of the vulva
    surgical contraception
    contraception by surgical sterilization
    xenotransplant, xenotransplantation
    type of:
    medical procedure
    a procedure employed by medical or dental practitioners
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