Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

operable

[op-er-uh-buhl, op-ruh-]

Origin

Operability www.laboratorytesting.com/ Operability Comprehensive Testing Services

Dictionary.com's Mobile Apps www.dictionary.com/mobile Ad-Free, Offline Content, Audio Pronunciation and More! Take Millions of Words With You Everywhere. Download Now!

Ads

adjective

that can be treated by a surgical operation. Compare inoperable (def. 2).

capable of being put into use, operation, or practice.

Origin:
1640–50; < Late Latin operābilis, equivalent to operā(rī) to work + -bilis -ble

Related forms

op·er·a·bil·i·ty, noun

op·er·a·bly, adverb

non·op·er·a·ble, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To operable

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Operable is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

operable (ˈɒpərəb^əl, ˈɒprə-)

—*adj*
1.	capable of being treated by a surgical operation
2.	capable of being operated
3.	capable of being put into practice

opera'bility

—n

'operably

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

operable

1646, "practicable," from operate (see operation) + -able. Surgical sense is first recorded 1904.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

operable op·er·a·ble (ŏp'ər-ə-bəl, ŏp'rə-)
adj.
Being treatable by surgical operation with a reasonable degree of safety and chance of success.

op'er·a·bil'i·ty n.