Operation - Definition

n 1: the state of being in effect or being operative; "that rule
is no longer in operation"
2: 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"
3: 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"
4: (computer science) data processing in which the result is
completely specified by a rule (especially the processing
that results from a single instruction); "it can perform
millions of operations per second"
5: activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or
campaign); "it was a joint operation of the navy and air
force" [syn: operation, military operation]
6: a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments;
performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living
body; "they will schedule the operation as soon as an
operating room is available"; "he died while undergoing
surgery" [syn: operation, surgery, surgical operation,
surgical procedure, surgical process]
7: a process or series of acts especially of a practical or
mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work; "the
operations in building a house"; "certain machine tool
operations" [syn: operation, procedure]
8: process or manner of functioning or operating; "the power of
its engine determines its operation"; "the plane's operation
in high winds"; "they compared the cooking performance of
each oven"; "the jet's performance conformed to high
standards" [syn: operation, functioning, performance]
9: (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive
activity; an operation that affects mental contents; "the
process of thinking"; "the cognitive operation of
remembering" [syn: process, cognitive process, mental
process, operation, cognitive operation]
10: (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods; "the
problems at the end of the chapter demonstrated the
mathematical processes involved in the derivation"; "they
were learning the basic operations of arithmetic" [syn:
mathematical process, mathematical operation,
operation]
11: the activity of operating something (a machine or business
etc.); "her smooth operation of the vehicle gave us a
surprisingly comfortable ride"