operate
verbEtymology
From Latin operātus, perfect passive participle of operor (“to work, labor, toil, have effect”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
- derived from operātus
Definitions
To perform a work or labour
To perform a work or labour; to exert power or strength, physical or mechanical; to act.
- Could someone explain how this meeting operates?
- In this town, the garbage removal staff operate between six o'clock at midnight.
- The police had inside knowledge of how the gang operated.
To produce an effect.
To bring about as an effect
To bring about as an effect; to cause.
- Strictures upon style, which are for the most part good, but time has operated a change in many respects even since he wrote.
- It is supposed that western Europe was overpopulated and that the crusades operated a beneficial reduction of numbers.
›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer
To perform some manual act upon a human body in a methodical manner, and usually with…
To perform some manual act upon a human body in a methodical manner, and usually with instruments, with a view to restore soundness or health, as in amputation, lithotomy, etc.
- The surgeon had to operate on her heart.
- I'm being operated tomorrow.
To deal in stocks or any commodity with a view to speculative profits.
To put into, or to continue in, operation or activity
To put into, or to continue in, operation or activity; to work.
- to operate a machine
- to operate a system
- to operate a casino
The neighborhood
- neighborcooperate
- neighborcoöperate
- neighborco-operate
- neighboropera
- neighboroperable
- neighboroperand
- neighboroperant
- neighboroperation
- neighboroperational
- neighboroperative
- neighboroperator
- neighboropus
Derived
battery-operated, chief operating officer, coin-operated, inter-operate, interoperate, misoperate, operatable, operatee, operating concept, operating cycle, operating depth, operating expense, operating loss, operating room, operating system, operating table, operating theatre, operating theater, operating time, overoperate, power-operated, reoperate, teleoperate, underoperate
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at operate. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at operate. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
9 hops · closes at operate
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA