Dictionary

nonoperative en · ADJ

Etymology

From non- + operative.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Not requiring or involving a medical operation or surgery.
2. (not-comparable) Not operative, not operational; inoperative.
   • The guide arms can rock forward into an operative position of their own or back into a nonoperative position. In the operative position a guide arm will contact lugs, but if either lugs or guide arms are nonoperative no contact will take place. 1996, David Kahn, The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
   • The historical cost of the property which was estimated to become nonoperative was set forth by the Commission's engineers, in Application No. 4440, as $36,278. 1921, Henry Clifford Spurr, Ellsworth Nichols, Public Utilities Reports, page 710:
   • Near-synonyms: nonfunctional, nonfunctioning
   • ... occurring on or after the ninety-first day after adjournment of the 1951 Regular Session of the Legislature, at which time they shall become nonoperative unless extended by further act of the Legislature … 1951 January 12, An act to repeal Section 8352 of … the Revenue and Taxation Code, published by the California legislature in Assembly Bills, Original and Amended

Antonyms

operative · surgical

Relateds

perioperative · postoperative · preoperative · paraoperative

Synonyms

nonsurgical · nonfunctioning · nonfunctional · medical[Appendix:Glossary

nonoperative en · NOUN

Etymology

From non- + operative.

Meanings

1. (uncommon) One who is not an operative (“employee or worker”).
   • Practically 50 per cent of the female operatives are found in the two groups aged 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years, while only 18.2 per cent of the female nonoperatives are found in these age groups. 1916, Women in industry series, United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics, page 366:
   • If they were less numerous among the nonoperatives it would be a reasonable assumption that the operative death rates were unfairly weighted by their greater relative number, and that a part at least of the operative excess was due to ... 1919, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, page 83:
   • [...] proportion of nonoperatives in total employment in all British manufacturing industries from 1948 to 1962. 1972, James L. Price, Handbook of Organizational Measurement:

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