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Glite Dictionary
🏢 To run a business ⚙️ To make work 🎖️ To carry out maneuvers 🩺 To do surgery
to operate

to operate

510 3.2
To run a business or project and make the main decisions
  • verb
  • /ˈɑːpəreɪt/
translation icon : dirigir
  • In Pennsylvania alone, 1,200 deer farms currently operate in 63 of the 67 counties.
  • owned and operated
  • operate a business
  • operate a company

And then as an owner, I get to operate my boot camp, right?

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Examples

  • But the government will have to operate daily with the Israelis to solve people's problems.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Give us good policies to operate within this system.

  • So how do we operate in this world going forward?

  • And then as an owner, I get to operate my boot camp, right?

    Bedros Keuilian

  • We operate on a handshake basis.

    Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

  • They need to have commercial actors that operate with them to do this.

  • How's that informed how you operate in the world or make decisions?

  • Further complicating matters, online instructors and students operate in an ever-changing technological landscape.

    Academic text (2015)

  • The manager will operate the team to ensure the project is completed on time.

  • She knows how to operate the new software efficiently to improve productivity.

Synonyms

to run
vsto operate
∞ 2.5

To be in charge of a business or organization

is about controlling the organization's functioning rather than daily supervision
to manage
vsto operate
643 2.7

To be in charge of a group or a business

is about controlling how an organization's systems and functions work
to administer
vsto operate
  • Formal
81 4.7

Manage the running of something like a business or program

focuses more on overall control of how the organization functions
to run the show
vsto operate
  • Informal
58 4.1

To be in charge of an activity or group

is a neutral term about controlling functions rather than an informal leader image

Antonyms

to disband
43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

Idioms

to operate on Tongan time
  • Slur
9.9

To follow a relaxed plan and arrive late without worry

Phrasal Verbs

to operate on
  • Specialized
47 4.6

To cut and repair a part of a person or animal in surgery

to operate on
  • Specialized
21 3.8

To use a program or method to change data

How Involved

to control
∞ 2.4
to run
∞ 2.5
to manage
643 2.7
to operate
510 3.2
to supervise
189 3.5

Surface Forms

operate infinitive
operated past
operated past participle
operating present participle
operates third person singular

Morphology

operate = oper + ate

The managerial/control sense ('to run or manage') is a straightforward extension of 'perform/work' encoded by the bound root 'oper-' plus '-ate', so learners who know related words (operation, operator) can often infer it.

Etymology

Operate comes from an old Latin root meaning 'to work', the same root in operation and operator. So to operate a business is to 'work' to run and manage it.