Operate
['ɒpəreɪt] or ['ɑpə'ret]
Definition
(verb.) happen; 'What is going on in the minds of the people?'.
(verb.) handle and cause to function; 'do not operate machinery after imbibing alcohol'; 'control the lever'.
(verb.) direct or control; projects, businesses, etc.; 'She is running a relief operation in the Sudan'.
Typist: Preston--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To perform a work or labor; to exert power or strengh, physical or mechanical; to act.
(v. i.) To produce an appropriate physical effect; to issue in the result designed by nature; especially (Med.), to take appropriate effect on the human system.
(v. i.) To act or produce effect on the mind; to exert moral power or influence.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. i.) To deal in stocks or any commodity with a view to speculative profits.
(v. t.) To produce, as an effect; to cause.
(v. t.) To put into, or to continue in, operation or activity; to work; as, to operate a machine.
Editor: Melinda
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [Followed by on or upon.] Act, work, have effect, have influence.
Edited by Brent
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Act, work, produce, effect, produce_an_effect, have_effect
ANT:Cease, rest, fail, misoperate
Checker: Ophelia
Definition
v.i. to work: to exert strength: to produce any effect: to exert moral power: (med.) to take effect upon the human system: (surg.) to perform some unusual act upon the body with the hand or an instrument.—v.t. to effect: to produce by agency.—n. Operam′eter an instrument for indicating the number of movements made by a part of a machine.—adj. Op′erant operative.—n. an operator.—n. Operā′tion art or process of operating or of being at work: that which is done or carried out: agency: influence: method of working: action or movements: surgical performance.—adj. Op′erātive having the power of operating or acting: exerting force: producing effects: efficacious.—n. a workman in a manufactory: a labourer.—adv. Op′erātively.—ns. Op′erātiveness; Op′erātor one who or that which operates or produces an effect: (math.) a letter &c. signifying an operation to be performed.
Checked by Andrew
Examples
- This was a class of plant which the inquirers desired to purchase outright and operate themselves, usually because of remoteness from any possible source of general supply of current. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- We separate from Butler so that he cannot be directed how to co-operate. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Double cultivators are constructed so that their outside teeth may be adjusted in and out from the centre of the machine to meet the width of the rows between which they operate. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Morgan Was foot-loose and could operate where, his information--always correct--led him to believe he could do the greatest damage. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- For that is a contradiction in terms, and suppose that the senses continue to operate, even after they have ceased all manner of operation. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- No class will abolish itself, materially alter its way of living, or drastically reconstruct itself, albeit no class is indisposed to co-operate in the unlimited socialization of any other class. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- If they do not operate, the blame is put not on the subject as taught, but on the indifference and recalcitrancy of pupils. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The telegraph operating-room was in a deplorable condition. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The important feature of this boat was a diver’s compartment, enabling divers to leave the vessel when submerged, for the purpose of operating on wrecks or performing other undersea duties. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- One of the doctors put a mask over her face and I looked through the door and saw the bright small amphitheatre of the operating room. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- There were supposed to be Italian troops concentrated in Soria, and at Siguenza again besides those operating in the North. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- If she had succeeded in doing so, the intricate knot which I was slowly and patiently operating on might perhaps have been cut by circumstances. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- At the end of 1909 the New York Edison Company alone was operating twenty-eight stations and substations, having a total capacity of 159,500 kilowatts. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The lever and the pulley, lathe s, picks, saws, hammers, bronze operating-lances, sundials, water-clocks, the gnomon (a vertical pillar for determining the sun's altitude) were in use. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Ingenious forms of hand-operated ironing machines for turning over and ironing the edges of collars, and other articles, are in successful use. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- This shutter was wound up by a spring operated by a pull cord. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- As was to be expected, the card index and electrically operated features caused thousands of concerns, large and small, to adopt the addressograph. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- They would have been considered as guests of the public, and the religion of the country would have operated in their favour. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- This consisted of mechanical means for throwing the shuttle across the web by a sudden jerk of a bar--one at each side--operated by pulling a cord. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Each machine was operated by a clerk, who translated the message into telegraphic characters and prepared the transmitting tape by punching the necessary perforations therein. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- This machine had eight or ten spindles driven by cords or belts from the same wheel, and operated by hand or foot. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The cylinder stops, and current operates the sluggish press-magnet, causing its armature to be attracted, thus lifting the platen and its projecting arm. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Where they remark the resemblance, it operates after the manner of a relation, by producing a connexion of ideas. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- In raising the price of commodities, the rise of wages operates in the same manner as simple interest does in the accumulation of debt. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Then it operates to call out mechanical reactions, ability to use the vocal organs to repeat statements, or the hand to write or to do sums. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- There is a definite way of understanding the situations in which the habit operates. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- In this machine a device is also arranged which operates to stop the machine at once if any thread is broken. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The bounty upon the exportation of corn necessarily operates exactly in the same way as this absurd policy of Spain and Portugal. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Edited by Gail