operational damage
- noun
- /ˌɑːpəˈreɪʃənl ˈdæmɪdʒ/
- Specialized
:
daño operativo
- After the exercise, the commander assessed the operational damage sustained by the armored vehicles.
Examples
-
The United States could never have inflicted the operational damage that we did on al Qaeda had we not taken the fight to Afghanistan.
Academic text (2009) -
The solar-powered deflector shields display no operational damage.
Fiction book (1991) -
The military reported significant operational damage to their equipment during the combat mission.
-
The airlift provided essential repairs to the units suffering from operational damage on the front lines.
Synonyms
2
4.5
Harm to military vehicles or equipment caused in combat
1
7.9
Loss or damage to military equipment during battle
Damage or loss of military equipment during field operations
Loss or serious damage to military equipment caused by an enemy attack
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase transparently combines 'operational' (relating to operations, e.g. field or military operations) with 'damage' (harm or loss), so its meaning — damage that occurs in the course of operations — is directly derivable from the constituents. This is a straightforward compositional modifier + noun pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Operational damage comes from the image of a tank or vehicle being hurt while out on a mission: operational means 'during an operation' and damage means 'hurt to equipment'. So, operational damage means the loss or hurt that happens to equipment while it is used in the field, not from accidents or when it is being fixed.