meatball surgery

noun

Surgery performed rapidly in a military field hospital to stabilize the patient as quickly as possible.

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Meanings

nounmeatball surgery (usually uncountable, plural meatball surgeries)

plural meatball surgeries

  1. colloquialuncountableusuallygovernmentSurgery performed rapidly in a military field hospital to stabilize the patient as quickly as possible.
  2. uncountableusuallyUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see meatball, surgery.

Origin

Coined or popularised by Richard Hooker in the novel MASH (1968).

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Cite this entry
APA

meatball surgery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatball%20surgery

MLA

“meatball surgery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatball%20surgery. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “meatball surgery,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/meatball%20surgery.

Source: meatball surgery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.