operations
operations — noun
1. the regular daily work and activities that a company, factory, or other organiza
the regular daily work and activities that a company, factory, or other organization does to produce or sell things
Toyota moved most of its assembly operations from Japan to Thailand last year.
moved + operations from X to Y
The bakery suspended operations for three weeks while the new ovens were installed.
suspend operations for [duration]
Élise runs the European operations of a small Swiss chocolate company from her Paris office.
Our farming operations in Kenya employ around two hundred local workers during harvest season.
Operations at the steel mill have been profitable since the new manager arrived.
- business
broader; covers the whole company, not just its daily activity
- activities
more neutral; less suggestive of an ongoing system of work
- production
narrower; specifically about making things, not selling or running
文法句型
company's operations in [place]
operations + verb (singular treated as one activity)
用法筆記
Subject is usually a company, factory, plant, or business unit. Often used with a place adverbial ('operations in Vietnam', 'European operations'). Treated grammatically as plural but refers to one unified business activity.
常見錯誤
2. the way separate pieces inside a device, organization, or wider process fit toge
the way separate pieces inside a device, organization, or wider process fit together and run, so the whole thing keeps working as one
Ilan spent two months learning the operations of the new printing press at the factory.
learn + operations of [machine]
The textbook explains the basic operations of the human heart in clear, simple language.
explain + operations of [system]
Lien wrote her thesis on the internal operations of small village banks in northern Vietnam.
Engineers studied the operations of the cooling system before deciding which part to replace.
- workings
very close in meaning; slightly more informal
- functioning
singular and abstract; how it operates rather than what its parts do
- mechanism
narrower; the specific structure that makes it work
文法句型
operations of [machine/system]
study/understand + operations
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 is what a company DOES day to day; sense 2 is how a machine or system WORKS internally. Sense 2 is usually followed by 'of + [machine/system]'.
3. a series of carefully planned activities, often by an army, the police, or a res
a series of carefully planned activities, often by an army, the police, or a rescue team, done together to reach one goal
Rescue operations in the flooded village continued through the night despite heavy rain.
rescue operations + continue / launch
Christopher led the police operations against drug dealers in the south of the city.
lead + police operations against [target]
Military operations along the border have stopped while the two countries hold peace talks.
The fire chief coordinated emergency operations from a small van parked near the burning warehouse.
Shirin reported on rescue operations after the earthquake hit the small mountain town.
- mission
usually one specific task; operations is broader and ongoing
- campaign
longer, often political or military; operations focuses on the action itself
- manoeuvres
specifically military; movements of soldiers or vehicles for practice or attack
文法句型
military/police/rescue + operations
carry out / launch / coordinate + operations
用法筆記
Almost always plural in this sense, even when describing one campaign ('rescue operations' rather than 'a rescue operation' when talking about ongoing effort). Common modifiers: rescue, military, police, search, peacekeeping, anti-terror, undercover.
常見錯誤
4. a business or company, used especially when its name includes the word 'operatio
a business or company, used especially when its name includes the word 'operations' or when it acts as one combined unit
Dahlia sold her family's small farming operations to a bigger Brazilian agricultural group.
sell + [adj] operations (as one business)
Yan-Sheng runs a logistics operations based in a quiet industrial park outside Taichung.
run + a [adj] operations (treated as one company)
The mining operations in northern Chile employ over five hundred workers and three engineers.
Diego started a small fishing operations near the coast with money from his retired father.
- business
the most natural everyday word; less formal
- enterprise
formal; suggests something newly started or larger in scale
- concern
old-fashioned; still used in business writing for 'a small concern'
文法句型
[Adj] + operations as the name of a business
用法筆記
Less common than sense 1 and easily confused with it. Sense 1 is the daily activity of a known company; sense 4 treats the whole business as 'an operations' (a unit you can buy, sell, or start). The form often appears with an adjective naming the field: 'mining operations', 'fishing operations', 'farming operations'.
5. medical procedures in which a doctor cuts open a person's body to fix, take out,
medical procedures in which a doctor cuts open a person's body to fix, take out, or replace a part that is hurt or sick
Folake had three operations on her right knee before she could walk without pain.
have + operations on + [body part]
Surgeons at the children's hospital perform around two hundred operations every month.
perform + operations
Gita needed two more operations to remove the small tumour from her left lung.
Operations on the heart have become much safer over the last twenty years.
- surgeries
American English equivalent; very close in meaning
- procedures
broader; includes non-surgical medical work
文法句型
[N] + operations to [verb]
perform/have/undergo + operations
用法筆記
Simple plural of 'operation' (the surgical procedure). Common verbs: have, undergo, perform, schedule, recover from. Usually followed by 'on + body part' or 'to + verb'.
常見錯誤
6. steps in maths — like adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing — that take
steps in maths — like adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing — that take some numbers as input and give back a different number as the result
Jenna's daughter learned the four basic operations of arithmetic in her second year of school.
basic operations of arithmetic
Calculators can perform millions of operations in just one second without making mistakes.
perform + operations
Sophia learned that the order of operations changed her answer on every test question.
Each spreadsheet step runs three simple operations on the numbers in the cell above.
- calculations
broader; includes any kind of working out, not just the four basic steps
- procedures
more general; any sequence of steps in maths or computing
文法句型
mathematical/arithmetic + operations
perform + operations
用法筆記
Frequently appears in the fixed phrase 'order of operations' (the rule that multiplication and division come before addition and subtraction). Common in textbooks and computing contexts.