Meaning of OPERATIVE
| Pronunciation: | | 'âpu`reytiv
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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- [n] someone who can be employed as a detective to collect information
- [n] a person secretly employed in espionage for a government
- [adj] being in force or having or exerting force; "operative regulations"; "the major tendencies operative in the American political system"
- [adj] (of e.g. a machine) performing or capable of performing; "in running (or working) order"; "a functional set of brakes"
- [adj] relating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine; "a surgical appendix"; "a surgical procedure"; "operative dentistry"
- [adj] effective; producing a desired effect; "the operative word"
- [adj] of or relating to a surgical operation; "operative surgery"
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| | Synonyms: | | at work(p), effective, functional, functioning, good, important, in effect(p), in force(p), in operation(p), intelligence agent, intelligence officer, key, operant, operating(a), operational, PI, postoperative, preoperative, private detective, private eye, private investigator, running(a), secret agent, shamus, sherlock, significant, surgical, working, working(a) |
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| | Antonyms: | | inoperative, medical | | |
| | See Also: | | agent, agent provocateur, detective, hotel detective, house detective, house dick, inquiry agent, spy, store detective, undercover agent | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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\Op"er*a*tive\, a. [Cf.L. operativus, F. op['e]ratif.]
1. Having the power of acting; hence, exerting force,
physical or moral; active in the production of effects;
as, an operative motive.
It holds in all operative principles. --South.
2. Producing the appropriate or designed effect; efficacious;
as, an operative dose, rule, or penalty.
3. (Surg.) Based upon, or consisting of, an operation or
operations; as, operative surgery.
\Op"er*a*tive\, n.
A skilled worker; an artisan; esp., one who operates a
machine in a mill or manufactory.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | accessible, active, actor, agent, alive, architect, armipotent, artisan, author, authoritative, Bow Street runner, CIA man, cloak-and-dagger operative, cogent, conductor, counterintelligence agent, counterspy, craftsman, craftswoman, creator, detective, doer, double agent, driver, dynamic, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, employable, employee, energetic, engineer, espionage agent, executant, executor, executrix, eye, fabricator, FBI, FBI agent, fed, Federal, forceful, forcible, functional, functionary, functioning, G-man, go, gumshoe, hand, handler, high-potency, high-powered, high-pressure, high-tension, hotel detective, house detective, house dick, in force, in power, inquiry agent, inside man, intelligence agent, investigator, irresistible, laborer, live, machinist, maker, manipulator, mechanic, medium, mighty, mighty in battle, military-intelligence man, mover, narc, naval-intelligence man, operant, operation, operational, operator, performer, perpetrator, pilot, plainclothesman, police detective, potent, powerful, practicable, practical, practitioner, prepotent, prime mover, private detective, private eye, private investigator, producer, puissant, reconnoiterer, revenuer, roustabout, ruling, runner, running, scout, secret agent, Secret Service, shamus, Sherlock Holmes, sleuth, spotter, spy, spy-catcher, steersman, store detective, striking, strong, subject, telling, T-man, treasury agent, undercover man, usable, valid, vigorous, vital, worker, workhand, working, workingman, workman |
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