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operate

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[ UK /ˈɒpəɹˌe‍ɪt/ ]
[ US /ˈɑpɝˌeɪt, ˈɔpɝˌeɪt/ ]
VERB
  1. perform a movement in military or naval tactics in order to secure an advantage in attack or defense
  2. handle and cause to function
    control the lever
    do not operate machinery after imbibing alcohol
  3. perform as expected when applied
    The washing machine won't go unless it's plugged in
    This old radio doesn't work anymore
    Does this old car still run well?
  4. keep engaged
    engaged the gears
  5. direct or control; projects, businesses, etc.
    She is running a relief operation in the Sudan
  6. perform surgery on
    The doctors operated on the patient but failed to save his life
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How To Use operate In A Sentence

  • The battery-operated doll comes complete with walkie-talkie and a wardrobe choice of military fatigues or bolero jacket and gold trousers.
  • These provisions, although expressed at a level of great generality, have often been invoked by those who posit the existence of a broad international duty to cooperate or a right to solidarity.
  • The outside activity is monitored through a battery-operated thermo sensor, which can be placed 30m away from the main unit. Times, Sunday Times
  • Nowadays she heats her place with a cast-iron stove perched on firebricks in the living room, cooks with propane, and does her beadwork at night by the light of a kerosene lamp while listening to a battery-operated radio.
  • My question is this: since BAS drugs operate via a non-absorbed, non-systemic action they are anion-exchange resins, are they at all dangerous? More statin madness | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.
  • ‘The council operates a priority order for gritting roads and footpaths,’ a spokesman said.
  • He urged booksellers to cooperate to form a nationwide chain of ecumenical book outlets that would be well-funded and professionally run.
  • She held her ears when the jackhammer started to operate
  • Invitro certain combinations of oncogenes cooperate to transform primary rat cells.
  • It was battery operated, and would not rely on a malfunction in the main power supply.
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