Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of injury, deformity, and disease by manual and instrumental means.
- n. A surgical operation or procedure, especially one involving the removal or replacement of a diseased organ or tissue.
- n. An operating room or a laboratory of a surgeon or of a hospital's surgical staff.
- n. The skill or work of a surgeon.
- n. Chiefly British A physician's, dentist's, or veterinarian's office.
- n. Chiefly British The period during which a physician, dentist, or veterinarian consults with or treats patients in the office.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The work of a surgeon; surgical care; therapy of a distinctly operative kind, such as cutting-operations, the reduction and putting up of fractures and dislocations, and similar manual forms of treatment. It is not, however, ordinarily used to denote the administration of baths, electricity, enemata, or massage.
- n. Pl. surgeries (-iz). A place where surgical operations are performed, or where medicines are prepared; in Great Britain, the consulting-office and dispensary of a general practitioner.
- n. See the adjectives.
Wiktionary
- n. medicine A procedure involving major incisions to remove, repair, or replace a part of a body.
- n. medicine The medical specialty related to the performance of surgical procedures.
- n. A room or department where surgery is performed.
- n. UK A doctor's consulting room.
- n. UK Any arrangement where people arrive and wait for an interview with certain people, similar to a doctor's surgery.
- n. finance, bankruptcy, slang A pre-packaged bankruptcy or "quick bankruptcy".
- n. topology The production of a manifold by removing parts of one manifold and replacing them with corresponding parts of others.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The art of healing by manual operation; that branch of medical science which treats of manual operations for the healing of diseases or injuries of the body; that branch of medical science which has for its object the cure of local injuries or diseases, as wounds or fractures, tumors, etc., whether by manual operation or by medicines and constitutional treatment.
- n. A surgeon's operating room or laboratory.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a room where a doctor or dentist can be consulted
- n. a room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations
- n. the branch of medical science that treats disease or injury by operative procedures
- n. a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body
Etymologies
- From Old French surgerie, contracted form of cirurgie, from Latin chirurgia, from Ancient Greek χειρουργία (kheirourgia), from χείρ (kheir, "hand") + ἔργον (ergon, "work"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English surgerie, from Old French, short for cirurgerie, from cirurgie, from Latin chīrūrgia, from Greek kheirourgiā, from kheirourgos, working by hand : kheir, hand; + ergon, work. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Someone who assures you that brain surgery is simple?”
The Huffington Post: Rosalyn Hoffman: Vote Like It's Brain Surgery
“When brain surgery is considered, accurate determination of whether surgery may be effective is crucial to patient counseling.”
“Immediate brain surgery is Caitlin's only treatment option, but her insurance company, Aetna, took its sweet time approving her operation, and then reversed itself claiming her benefits had expired.”
“Would let yourself get brain surgery from a resident that has been next to the chief surgeon for a few years, but has never touched a knife?”
“Robert H. Haralson III, former medical director for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, says Medicare's payment isn't too high, because the surgery is a more intense procedure than the current value implies.”
The Wall Street Journal: Physician Panel Prescribes the Fees Paid by Medicare
“Even I lost weight thanks to what I call the surgery diet.”
“Again, the article does not state whether or not the surgery is a necessary one, and, again, if it is a life-saving or extending measure, I am all for it.”
“And I guarantee that if you actually do your homework, and read the studies, checking carefully to determine how they define success, what cases they are excluding from the final results and why, and look at the long term picture, you will find that the surgery is a disaster for a very large portion of the people who do it.”
Freakonomics in the Times Magazine: The Stomach-Surgery Conundrum - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“To label it as being bad, or to try to convince women that they should not have this surgery is as much a disservice to women as performing an unnecessary hysterectomy.”
“According to the Beijing Institute of External Skeletal Fixation Technology, the cost of the surgery is about US$15,000-25,000.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘surgery’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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health
ache, operation, ambulance, drop, chemist, pill, patient, hospital, injection, medicine, blood, clinic and 7 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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-ery
a place to; practice/act of; product of; collection of; condition/state of
brewery, nunnery, robbery, pottery, crockery, slavery, surgery, nursery
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unwell
pheochromocytoma, tumor, adrenaline, gland, endocrine, neurological, hormone, imbalance, heart, palpitation, sweating, headache and 74 more...
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working words
erg, ergative, ergometer, energy, ergonomics, exergue, synergism, synergid, liturgy, exoergic, exergonic, urge and 30 more...
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voca22000_1105
voca22000_1105
bush, bough, twig, trunk, thron, oak, bud, pine, petal, mamal, claw, worm and 36 more...
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TT3 Lesson 31
active, adolescent, adoption, brandy, canine, catheter, cavity, collapse, complain, coordinator, crew, cuddly and 31 more...
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health
ache, operation, ambulance, drop, chemist's, pill, patient, hospital, injection, medicine, casualty ward, blood and 7 more...
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Scariest Words Ever
Not just buzzkills, these words make you question whether you really value life and live every moment--and if not, how can you start?
After you read this, I recommend reading something l...cancer, metastasize, inoperable, incurable, carcinoma, sarcoma, tumor, malignant, chemotherapy, radiation, degenerative, retrovirus and 8 more...
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trillie's Words
weirdo, lapdog, artichoke, kickstart, nerd, misguide, indifference, viva, myth, seeker, itch, flipside and 38 more...
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2013-04-25
regression, barge, ricin, feud, poison, foe, escalate, sinister, diabetes, surgery
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thug life
selfish, dowdy, stagnant, articulate, amory, blaine, amory blaine, gaudy, advanced, sadness, life, frustration and 24 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for surgery.

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