Operate Meaning
/ˈɒpəɹeɪt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo perform a work or labour; to exert power or strength, physical or mechanical; to act.
verbTo produce an effect.
Sentence Examples
The engineer demonstrated how to operate the sophisticated system.
The doctor decided to operate at once.
Most domestic freezers operate at below −18°C.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The skilled surgeon will ____ on the patient's damaged heart tomorrow morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The surgeon will ____ on the patient's knee to repair the torn ligament tomorrow morning.
Word Origin & History
From Latin operātus, perfect passive participle of operor (“to work, labor, toil, have effect”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year."
— 2012 January 26, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 23:
"The drug operates by facilitating the negative neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), resulting in the blocking of neural long-term potentiation."
— 2010, Peter A. Frensch, Ralf Schwarzer, Cognition and Neuropsychology:
"The Virtues of private Perſons, how Bright and Exemplary ſoever, operate but on Few; on thoſe only who are near enough to obſerve, and inclin'd to imitate them: their ſphere of Action is narrow, and their Influence is confin'd to it."
— 1706 September 18 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Francis Atterbury, “A Sermon Preach’d in the Guild-Hall Chapel, London, Sept. 28. 1706. Being the Day of the Election of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.”, in Fourteen Sermons Preach’d on Several Occasions. […], London: […] E. P. [Edmund Parker?] for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1708, →OCLC, page 405:
"A plain, convincing reason operates on the mind both of a learned and ignorant hearer as long as they live."
— 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman:
"Strictures upon style, which are for the most part good, but time has operated a change in many respects even since he wrote."
— 1830 March 24, Charles Francis Adams Sr., Massachusetts Historical Society: Adams Papers Digital Edition, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2022, Diary of Charles Francis Adams, volume 3:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The skilled surgeon will ____ on the patient's damaged heart tomorrow morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The surgeon will ____ on the patient's knee to repair the torn ligament tomorrow morning.