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# operation

«operation» in Mova's school dictionary: **a way of working with numbers: add, subtract, multiply or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (operation, operations)

### meaning for a pupil

1) In maths, an operation is a way of working with numbers: add, subtract, multiply or divide. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#m1)

2) An operation is when a doctor (a surgeon) fixes something inside the body. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#m2)

3) An operation is a planned piece of work done by many people: a rescue operation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

the four ways to calculate («all four operations»); the goal of reading a word problem is to choose the operation; some problems need two operations; in everyday life a hospital operation; in news a rescue operation

### examples

- Today we practise all four operations together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x1)
- Which operation do we use here? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x2)
- This problem needs two operations. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x3)
- Adding and subtracting are opposite operations. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x4)
- Grandpa had an operation on his knee. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x5)
- The doctors did the operation in the morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x6)
- A big rescue operation found the lost hikers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x7)
- Here is another instance of a life-giving operation of a double nature. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/#x8)

### note

The goal of reading a problem is to choose the operation. Trap: some problems need two operations, one after the other. Adding and subtracting undo each other; so do multiplying and dividing. Verb «operate».

### In the corpora

- [A waiting list is a queue for a non-urgent operation, and in the NHS the wait can be months.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/20-the-doctor-and-the-chemist/11/)
- [Later Mum explains: Grandpa needs a small operation and they were planning the trip to visit him.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/35-closed-doors-whispers-and-secrets/5/)
- [A cone round a pet's neck after an operation stops it licking its stitches, because licking can open the wound.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/227-the-vet/11/)
- ["A procedure" in hospital talk means an operation or surgery.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/14/)
- ["Had some work done" means had cosmetic surgery, operations on the face or body that change how a person looks.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/9-age-looks-and-size/19/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «operation» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operation/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.