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Glite Dictionary
⚙️ Usable or working 🏥 Can be treated
operable

operable

2 5.6
Doctors can treat or remove the disease with surgery
  • adjective
  • /ˈɑːpərəbəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : operable
  • At first they said that not only was her cancer operable, but it had been caught early and she had an excellent chance.
  • operable breast cancer
  • patients with operable

Examples

  • The aim of this study was to find out whether the local recurrence rate could be reduced and survival increased by a moderately high dose of preoperative radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced, but otherwise operable, carcinoma of the rectum.

    Academic text (1996)

  • In patients with operable breast cancer, the goals of locoregional treatment are to provide optimum local control, to adequately stage the disease, and to provide the best chance of long survival.

    Academic text (1993)

  • In addition, the patients selected for this study represent only a small proportion of total operable cases.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The management of operable breast cancer entails both local and systemic therapy.

    Academic text (1993)

  • An exciting related area of research involves the use of preoperative chemotherapy in patients with operable breast cancer.

    Academic text (1993)

  • She was not deemed operable, and she was given palliative chemotherapy until she died in the autumn of 2007.

    Academic text (2008)

  • It has now been established beyond doubt that selected patients with operable breast carcinoma can be treated by breast conservation techniques rather than mastectomy, with no associated increase in mortality.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The doctor confirmed that the tumor was operable, giving us hope for a successful surgery.

  • They were relieved to hear that her condition was classified as operable, meaning surgery could reduce the risk.

  • In cases where the cancer is operable, timely intervention can significantly improve outcomes.

Synonyms

treatable
vsoperable
  • Specialized
31 3.5

A condition a doctor or medicine can cure

refers specifically to surgical treatment or removal
resectable
vsoperable
  • Specialized
1 6.7

Can be removed by surgery

allows surgical removal or other surgical treatment

Antonyms

inoperable
  • Specialized
14 7.3

Doctors cannot safely remove it by surgery

How Operable

operable
  • Specialized
2 5.6
inoperable
  • Specialized
14 7.3

Surface Forms

operable positive

Morphology

operable = operate (transparent) = operate + able

Formed by the productive suffix '-able' added to 'operate' meaning 'to perform surgery', yielding 'able to be operated on'; the derivation is directly guessable given knowledge of the surgical sense of 'operate'.

Etymology

Operable comes from the Latin root operari, which means 'to work' and appears in English words like operate and operation. Think of a surgeon 'working on' a patient — so an operable disease is one that can be 'worked on' or removed by surgery.