Definition

1. Noun:
   • A medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body: This is the primary meaning, referring to the act or process of performing an operation on a patient.
   • A room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations: This refers to the specific physical location where surgical procedures are carried out.
   • A room where a doctor or dentist can be consulted: This is a chiefly British English usage, meaning a doctor's office or consulting room.
   • The branch of medical science that treats disease or injury by operative procedures: This refers to the field or specialty of medicine concerned with performing operations.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Medical Procedure):
  • The patient required emergency surgery to remove the appendix.
  • Recovery time after knee surgery can be several weeks.
• Noun (Operating Room):
  • The surgical team scrubbed in before entering the surgery.
  • The new hospital has ten state-of-the-art surgeries.
• Noun (Consulting Room - chiefly UK):
  • I have an appointment at the doctor's surgery at 3 p.m.
  • The dentist's surgery was on the second floor.
• Noun (Medical Branch):
  • He decided to specialize in cardiac surgery.
  • Advances in minimally invasive surgery have improved patient outcomes.

Advanced Usage

• "To undergo surgery": to have a surgical operation performed on oneself.
  • She had to undergo surgery to correct the problem.
• "To perform surgery": to carry out a surgical operation on someone.
  • The surgeon will perform surgery tomorrow morning.
• "In surgery": can mean either currently being operated on, or working in the field of surgery.
  • The patient is still in surgery. (undergoing an operation)
  • She has been in surgery for twenty years. (working as a surgeon)

Variants and Related Words

• Surgical (adj): of, relating to, or used in surgery.
  • Surgical instruments must be sterile.
• Surgeon (n): a medical practitioner qualified to practice surgery.
  • The surgeon explained the risks of the procedure.

Synonyms

• Operation: A synonym for the medical procedure sense.
  • He is scheduled for an operation next week.
• Procedure: A more general term that can include surgical operations.
• Operating Room/Theatre: Synonyms for the room where surgery is performed.

Related Phrases

• Keyhole surgery: Informal term for minimally invasive surgery performed through a small incision.
  • Keyhole surgery often leads to faster recovery.
• Plastic surgery: Surgery concerned with the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body.
  • She considered plastic surgery after the accident.
• Open-heart surgery: Surgery in which the chest is opened and the heart is exposed.
  • The bypass required open-heart surgery.

Idioms

• A surgery: In UK English, can refer to a period of time when a politician or other official is available for consultation by the public.
  • The MP holds a weekly surgery for her constituents.

Noun

1. 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
2. a room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations
   • great care is taken to keep the operating rooms aseptic
3. a room where a doctor or dentist can be consulted
   • he read the warning in the doctor's surgery
4. the branch of medical science that treats disease or injury by operative procedures
   • he is professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School