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Medicine vocabulary · Treatments and Procedures

Operate

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈɑːpəreɪt/verbCore term

In medicine, operate means: To cut into a patient's body in order to repair, remove or examine something as a surgical treatment.

In Turkish: ameliyat etmek, opere etmek, ameliyata almak

How it is used

Surgeons 'operate on' a patient or a part of the body: 'operate on her knee'. The noun is operation (informally 'an op'). Decisions are often framed as 'operate' versus 'manage conservatively'. The passive is 'was operated on', not 'was operated'.

Example sentences

  1. The surgeons decided to operate on him that night.

  2. She was operated on for a perforated ulcer last year.

Common collocations

  • operate on a patient
  • decide to operate
  • operate urgently
  • be operated on
  • surgeryTreatment in which a doctor cuts into the body to repair, remove or replace something; also the medical specialty that does this.
  • surgeonA doctor who is trained to treat diseases and injuries by operating on patients.
  • operating theatreA specially equipped, very clean room in a hospital where surgical operations are carried out.
  • anesthesiaThe use of drugs to stop a patient feeling pain during a procedure, either by putting them fully to sleep or by numbing one part of the body.
  • informed consentA patient's agreement to a treatment or procedure, given after the doctor has explained what it involves, its benefits, its risks and the alternatives.

More terms: Treatments and Procedures

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.