operating

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of operate.

   The plant has been operating around the clock since spring.

   Operating without a valid license can lead to heavy fines.

   Note

   Here the word is still doing verb work. It follows be in progressive tenses (has been operating since spring), and as a gerund it can take an object or an adverb (operating a crane, operating without a license). Because operate works both with and without an object, either pattern is normal. A quick test separates it from the "running" adjective: if it takes an object or an adverb, it is the verb.

2. 2
   adjective

   Currently in operation; actively running and functioning.

   The operating reactor is monitored continuously by trained staff.

   Inspectors check every operating turbine during the maintenance window.

   Similarrunning, working, functioning, operational, active

   Oppositeidle, inactive

   Note

   A word about the machine's state rather than its purpose: operating machinery is switched on and running right now. It does not grade, so nothing is more operating than something else. Its opposite is written either nonoperating or non-operating. Keep it apart from the "relating to an operation" meaning, where an operating room or operating expenses are defined by their use, not by being turned on.

3. 3
   adjective

   Involved in or relating to an operation, such as running a business or performing surgery.

   The company cut its operating expenses to stay profitable.

   Surgeons scrubbed in before entering the operating room.

   Similaroperational

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The action or process of running, controlling, or carrying something out.

   The continuous operating of the plant requires a skilled night crew.

   Proper operating of the reactor demands strict adherence to protocol.

   Similaroperation

   Note

   This noun treats the activity as a mass, and it is most at home in surgery: operating is what a surgeon does, and like the verb it takes on for the patient (operating on conscious patients). Because it is uncountable, it never takes an article or a plural. You perform an operation, or several, but you simply enjoy operating. Operating names the craft in general, while operation names a single procedure.

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