Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: PARLIAMENTS

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: cirurgie, from Latin, from Greek cheirourgia, from cheirourgos 'working with the hand', from cheir 'hand' + ergon 'work'

surgery

 noun
     
sur‧ge‧ry S2 W2 plural surgeries
1 [uncountable]MH medical treatment in which a surgeon cuts open your body to repair or remove something inside [↪ operation]
surgery on
She required surgery on her right knee.
surgery for
emergency surgery for chest injuries
in surgery
She was in surgery for two hours Thursday.
major/minor surgery
major heart surgery
have/undergo surgery
He underwent surgery to remove a blood clot.
➔ cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery
2 [uncountable] especially American EnglishMH the place where operations are done in a hospital [= operating room AmE; = theatre BrE]
Dr. Hanson is in surgery.
3 [countable] British EnglishMH a place where a doctor or dentist gives treatment [= office American English]
4 [uncountable] British EnglishMH a regular period each day when people can see a doctor or dentist [= office hours American English]
Surgery is from 9am - 1pm on weekdays.
5 [countable] British EnglishPGP a special period of time when people can see a Member of Parliament to discuss problems
WORD FOCUS: doctor WORD FOCUS: doctor
similar words: physician especially AmE, GP British English, consultant, registrar
a doctor who does operations: surgeon
a doctor who treats mental illnesses: psychiatrist, psychotherapist, shrink informal
a doctor who treats people's teeth: dentist, orthodontist
a doctor who treats animals: vet, veterinarian especially AmE
someone who is training to be a doctor: medical student, intern American English
the place where you go to see your doctor: surgery British English, office American English

➔ See also doctor
Definition of surgery from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic PARLIAMENTS
Word of the Day
The PARLIAMENTS
Word of the Day is:
whip

Other related topics