pre-op

adjective

Happening before an operation.

“a pre-op consultation”

Meanings

adjectivepre-op (not comparable)

alternative preop

  1. not comparableHappening before an operation.

    a pre-op consultation

    2 more examples

    For example, Goal 7 “Reduce the risk of health care associated infections” stipulates, among other things, that hospitals have specific strategies in place to prevent surgical site infection (SSI), that they provide regular feedback about SSI rates to caregivers, with follow-up for 30 days, that they discontinue the use of shaving as a method of preop hair removal, etc.

    2011, Darrell A. Campbell, “Patient Safety”, in Michael W. Mulholland, Gerard M. Doherty, editors, Complications in Surgery, 2nd edition, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, pages 58–59

    A vasectomy, as the pre-op letter explained, “is designed to make you sterile”. (You’d hope so.)

    2026 May 11, Tim Burrows, “My first thought after having a vasectomy: why aren’t more British men having them?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
  2. not comparableNot yet operated on.

    The three pre-op transsexuals are attired in cheap, synthetic clothes and, to emphasize this point, one of them even wears a polyester imitation of Samantha's luxury silk nightgown […]

    2013, Niall Richardson, Clarissa Smith, Angela Werndly, Studying Sexualities: Theories, Representations, Cultures, page 92
nounpre-op (plural pre-ops)

plural pre-ops · alternative preop

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*preh₂-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*préh₂i?
  4. Proto-Italic*prai
  5. Proto-Italic*prai-
  6. Latinprae-
  7. Middle Englishpre-
  8. Englishpre-
  9. Englishop
  10. Englishpre-op

From pre- + op.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French pré-op, pré-op
  • pré-opTranslations
  • pré-opTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

pre-op. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-op

MLA

“pre-op.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-op. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pre-op,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pre-op.

Source: pre-op on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.