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sex-change operation

sex-change operation

6 5.7
Medical treatment with surgery and hormones that helps a person live as a different gender
  • noun
  • /sɛks ʧeɪndʒ ˌɑpəˈreɪʃən/
  • Archaic
translation icon : operación de cambio de sexo
  • In 2015, she decided to undergo a sex-change operation to live as her true self.
  • undergo a sex-change operation
  • botched sex-change operation
  • get a sex-change operation

That pig had his sex change operation paid for by California taxpayers thanks to Kamala Harris.

Examples

  • After years of consideration, he finally scheduled a sex-change operation to transition to a woman.

  • The documentary followed several individuals as they prepared for their sex-change operation in a supportive environment.

  • The procedure I'll perform is commonly referred to as a sex change operation.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • There is a gender bias; the same person was treated completely differently before and after a sex change operation.

    Blog text (15)
  • She had previously attacked insurance companies to cover sex change operations.

    Blog text (22)
  • He paid a surgeon to perform a sex change operation on me.

    Blog text (2)
  • Our health care system will pay for a sex change operation if a psychiatrist or psychiatric team (which is also covered by single-payer) supports a patient's decision to have a sex change operation.

    Blog text (27)
  • Krieger said she felt so damaged that she underwent a sex change operation after her sports career ended; she's now Andreas Krieger.

    Blog text (3)

Synonyms

sex change
vssex-change operation
  • Specialized
15 4.2

A medical operation and hormone treatment to make a person's body match the gender they feel

focuses on a single medical procedure to alter sexual characteristics
transsexual surgery
vssex-change operation
  • Archaic
1 6.6

Operations and hormone treatment that change a person's body so it looks more like a man or a woman

focuses on altering sexual characteristics medically rather than on social identity

How Extensive

sex-change operation
  • Archaic
6 5.7
sex change
  • Specialized
15 4.2
hormone replacement therapy
  • Specialized
3.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

sex-change + operation

The meaning 'a surgical procedure to change a person's sex' is directly derivable from the components: 'sex' + 'change' indicates changing sexual characteristics and 'operation' denotes a surgical procedure. This compositional structure is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Sex-change operation puts together sex, change, and operation to paint a simple picture: an 'operation' that 'changes' a person's 'sex'. As medicine improved, doctors began using surgery and hormones to alter the body to match the other sex, so the phrase now means 'a medical procedure to change someone's sex'.