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surgery

surgery

945 2.7
An operation in which a doctor cuts into the body to treat or repair it
  • noun
  • /ˈsɜrdʒəri/
translation icon : operación
  • After the car accident, she had to undergo surgery to repair her broken leg.
  • undergo surgery
  • breast surgery
  • surgery patients

It's no undoing the surgeries and the medication.

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Examples

  • I had emergency bypass surgery last year.

  • And so he had surgery basically to repair that.

  • And when she did finally see him after surgery, he was changed.

  • And he went through a huge surgery yesterday morning.

  • You were in surgery for 3 hours.

  • So as soon as I had the surgery, they did a biopsy.

  • The patients remained awake during the surgery and reported the anesthetic effect.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Your daughter's out of surgery and she's in the recovery room now, okay?

  • Then, in my late 30s, I had a surgery to remove my appendix.

  • Nasal packs were removed one day after the surgery, and the patient was discharged in stable condition.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

operation
vssurgery
273 3.7

A surgery where a doctor cuts the body to fix a problem

is the term that highlights a doctor's active cutting and repair role
surgical procedure
vssurgery
  • Specialized
21 4.3

A medical operation that uses cuts to treat disease or injury

is a broader everyday term for a doctor's cutting treatment to heal the body
surgical operation
vssurgery
  • Specialized
2 3.0

A medical treatment where a doctor makes a cut to fix, remove, or replace a part of the body

is the general name for a doctor's cutting treatment to heal the body
surgical process
vssurgery
  • Specialized
4.6

An operation where a surgeon cuts the body to fix or remove a problem

is the general name for a doctor's cutting treatment, not the sequence of steps

Compounds

plastic surgery
  • Specialized
99 3.6

Operations that repair body parts or change them to improve looks

heart surgery
  • Specialized
36 3.1

An operation on the heart to fix a disease or problem

brain surgery
  • Specialized
24 4.1

An operation on the brain to treat illness or injury

open-heart surgery
  • Specialized
16 4.4

An operation where doctors open the chest to operate on the heart

14 3.9

An operation that fixes body parts so they look and work better after injury or disease

major surgery
  • Specialized
12 4.0

A serious operation on the body that doctors do while you are asleep and that has more risk

eye surgery
  • Specialized
8 3.9

A medical operation on the eye to fix sight problems

minor surgery
  • Specialized
4 3.6

A simple operation that does not need a general anaesthetic and lets you go home the same day

dental surgery
  • Specialized
2 3.8

Operations that treat problems of the teeth, jaw, and mouth

cataract surgery
  • Specialized
2 3.7

An operation to remove the cloudy lens of the eye and replace it with an artificial lens to restore vision

1 4.2

An operation using a healthy blood vessel to go around a blocked artery in the heart and restore blood flow

1 6.6

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

closed-heart surgery
  • Specialized
6.1

Heart surgery done through a small cut without opening the chest

8.8

An operation that destroys part of the eye that makes fluid to lower eye pressure

4.4

A degree dentists receive after dental school that lets them operate on teeth

Care and operations that treat injuries from accidents

barber-surgery
  • Archaic
9.9

An old job where people who cut hair also do small operations and pull teeth

extracapsular surgery
  • Specialized
8.5

A cataract operation that removes the front of the lens and keeps the back capsule to hold an artificial lens

filtration surgery
  • Specialized
7.3

A surgery that makes a small opening in the eye to let fluid drain and lower eye pressure

5.9

Surgery using a laser to make tiny burns in the eye to help fluid drain and lower eye pressure

meatball surgery
  • Informal
8.4

A quick, rough way of fixing something so it works but does not look neat

An operation using small tools and a camera to bypass blocked blood vessels while the heart beats

8.8

An eye operation that removes the whole lens and its thin outer layer

An operation on the heart using small cuts and cameras to bypass blocked arteries while a machine keeps blood moving

9.1

An operation to remove or change the testicles as part of a gender transition

4.9

Work to cut and care for damaged trees to keep them healthy

wrong-site surgery
  • Specialized
7.4

An operation done on the wrong part of the body

How Invasive

surgery
945 2.7
laparoscopy
  • Specialized
3 7.2
endoscopy
  • Specialized
7 5.8
injection
119 2.7

Surface Forms

surgery singular
surgeries plural

Etymology

Surgery comes from Greek words cheir 'hand' and ergon 'work'. So a surgery is an 'operation' — the 'hand work' doctors do to cut or repair the body.