Operate
Operate , intransitive verb
[Latin operatus, past participle of operari to work, from opus, operis, work, labor; akin to Sanskrit apas, and also to German uben to exercise, Old High German uoben, Icelandic afa. Compare Inure, Maneuver, Ure.]
1.
To perform a work or labor; to exert power or strength, physical or mechanical; to act.
2.
(Medicine) To produce an appropriate physical effect; to issue in the result designed by nature;
(Medicine) to take appropriate effect on the human system.
3.
To act or produce effect on the mind; to exert moral power or influence.
The virtues of private persons operate but on a few.
A plain, convincing reason operates on the mind both of a learned and ignorant hearer as long as they live.
4.
(Surgery) To perform some manual act upon a human body in a methodical manner, and usually with instruments, with a view to restore soundness or health, as in amputation, lithotomy, etc.
5.
To deal in stocks or any commodity with a view to speculative profits. [Brokers' Cant]
Operate , transitive verb
1.
To produce, as an effect; to cause.
The same cause would operate a diminution of the value of stock.
2.
To put into, or to continue in, operation or activity; to work; as, to operate a machine.