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# operative

«operative» in Mova's school dictionary: **now operative.»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective; noun (an operative, operatives)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Working, in action: «The new system is now operative.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#m1)

2) (noun) A worker, especially one who works machines in a factory. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#m2)

3) (noun) A secret agent or spy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#m3)

4) To do with a medical operation: «post-operative care». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

Formal and news word. «The operative word» means the most important word in a sentence. In hospitals: pre-operative (before surgery) and post-operative (after). In spy stories, an operative is an agent on a mission.

### examples

- The new lift will be operative from Monday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x1)
- The factory hired ten more operatives. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x2)
- The spy film followed a secret operative in Paris. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x3)
- «Free» was the operative word in the advert. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x4)
- After his operation Grandad needed post-operative care. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x5)
- The rules became operative at the start of term. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/O/operative/#x6)

### note

Adjective and countable noun. Related: operate, operation, operator. Phrase: «the operative word» = the key word. Use «an» before it.

### Trees and pragmatics

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