1
general::
Phrase(s): operate on someone
to perform a surgical operation on someone. • They decided not to operate on her. • She wasn’t operated on after all., Phrase(s): operate on something
1. to work on something; to work with the insides of something. (As a surgeon might operate.) • He tried to operate on his watch and ruined it. • Todd operated on the door lock and fixed it. 2. to function or conduct business on a certain principle or assumption. • The company has always operated on the theory that the customer is always right. • Sam operates on the assumption that everyone is out to get him.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs