op.n.1
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ = opus n. 1, esp. opus n. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > [noun]
workOE
musica1586
composure?1606
composition1667
writings1672
morceau1748
op.1784
piece1825
opusc1840
confection1844
number1865
oeuvre1889
1784 (title) A favorite concerto for the harpsichord or piano forte with accompanyments: composed by Giuseppe Haydn. Op. 37.
1853 (title) Mendelssohn's Ottetto, Op. 20. Arranged as a quartet for the piano, flute, violin & violoncello.
a1865 E. C. Gaskell Lett. (1966) 817 Violet: ‘Have you brought any music down Miss Gaskell?’ Meta: ‘No.’ Violet: ‘Oh—but I've brought Op. 7 down with me.’
1885 W. S. Gilbert Mikado ii. 36 The music hall singer attends a series Of masses and fugues and ‘ops’ By Bach.
1912 E. Wharton Let. 14 Mar. (1988) 268 For the last month I've had..My new ‘op.’, at its mid-crisis, wailing for me every morning like an infant for the bottle.
1924 Public Opinion 12 Sept. 258/2 The inclination of the public is towards the classical. The programmes that give the ‘symphonies and ops’ prove the most attractive.
1975 Gramophone July 205/1 Dvorak. Slavonic Dances, Opp. 46 and 72.
1990 Compact Disc 7 Aug. 56/2 Their Op. 50 was completed in a three—LP box; it has remained one of the glories of the Haydn discography.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opn.2
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ Cambridge University colloquial. Now rare.
= optime n. As the final element of compounds, in junior op, senior op.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > candidates > who passes > passing at university > placed in tripos
optime1658
wrangler1750
opt1755
optimate1792
wooden spoon1803
spoon1824
op1828
senior wrangler1831
wedge1852
senior classic1859
1828 Sporting Mag. 21 426 Aspirant Senior Ops' and embryo Wranglers.
1861 G. O. Trevelyan Horace at University of Athens in G. M. Trevelyan Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1932) ii. 54 We expect next year a junior op Will, by the help of book work, come out top.
1894 Church Times 26 Jan. 84 A pleasure which he would not have exchanged for a place among the Senior Ops.
1903 S. Butler Way of All Flesh lxxxvi. 423 Some people must write stupid books just as there must be junior ops and third class poll men.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opn.3
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ colloquial.
1. A military operation. Frequently in plural.In quot. 1941 short for Operations Room.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > [noun]
service?1560
operation1749
show1892
mission1910
op1916
party1918
society > armed hostility > military operations > [noun] > operations room or centre
op1941
situation room1942
1916 W. Owen Let. 6 Apr. (1967) 388 We had ‘Night Ops.’ yesterday till 9.30!
1941 Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. Jan. (Aeronaut. Review section) 32/3 The atmosphere of the room is recreated, even to the introduction of some of the new aeronautical colloquialisms, such as ‘Ops’ for the operations room.
1949 Radio Times 15 July 38/3 Now he's starting Ops and he wants us to get married right away.
1967 O. Wynd Walk Softly xi. 171 ‘This is the ops room.’ The place had one door and was about thirty feet square.
1970 Daily Tel. 16 June 7/1 A seasoned campaigner watched the campaign in awe. ‘It is like a military op,’ he said.
1981 ‘C. J. Cherryh’ Pride of Chanur i. 7 Pyanfar considered matters for a moment, finally walked outside the op room and down the corridor.
1991 Royal Air Force News 4 Oct. 4/4 The ops officer..can be described roughly as the commanding officer's adjutant in the field.
2. A surgical operation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > [noun] > a surgical operation
operation?a1425
surgical1828
the knife1880
procedure1890
op1925
1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xviii. 273 Motor-bus ran over her..pretty hopeless. Winter has seen her,—but thought she wouldn't stand an op.
1934 Punch 11 Apr. 397/1 No need for immediate op.; right eye untouched, but he fears left may be permanently damaged.
1964 G. L. Cohen What's Wrong with Hospitals? iv. 74 The probationers agreed that minor ops gave the most trouble.
1973 Guardian 26 May 1/5 Ops on rates. Free vasectomy operations..were available in Birmingham from yesterday.
1998 R. Cremins in S. Champion & D. Scannell Shenanigans (1999) xv. 250 What his eyes zoomed in on was the little fold of flesh at the armpit... Little op by the look of it, maybe three years back.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
opn.4
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ colloquial.
A radio or telegraph operator.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > radio operator
radio operator1912
spark1914
op1921
wop1939
pianist1955
1921 M. Swenson Jrnl. 2 June in Sparks, Mighty Man (typescript, Libr. of Congress MS Div.: Federal Writer's Project) 5 Took my first distress call alone last night. I was on duty in the wee hours, while the other ops dozed.
1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 124/2 He is a B&O op on the extra board while I am but an apprentice op and station helper on the Santa Fe.
1973 A. Ross Dunfermline Affair 13 He had been a Radio Op in the R.A.F.
1984 S. Steward & S. Garratt Signed, Sealed & Delivered iv. 85/1 The technical op..was in the cubicle balancing the sound.
1989 W. Care Vietnam Spook Show 115 Thank God SAM ops aren't..prima donnas.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opn.5
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ U.S. colloquial.
A detective; esp. a private investigator.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > procedures used in spying > [noun] > private detection > person engaged in
private detective1857
eye1874
Pinkerton1877
ferret1891
consultant1894
private investigator1894
Sherlock Holmes1896
operative1901
Sherlock1903
Sherlockian1903
Pink1904
peeper1908
private dick1912
op1924
shamus1925
private eye1938
PI1953
peep1974
1924 D. Hammett Golden Horseshoe in Black Mask Nov. 53/1 I wired your office for another op... He's to connect with you.
1947 M. Spillane I, the Jury 11 Not only that, but she had a private op's ticket and on occasions when she went out with me on a case, packed a flat .32 automatic.
1975 J. Gores Hammett viii. 60 Watching the stocky two-hundred-pound op..Hammett felt a little ill... ‘You going to take over the investigation of the police department?’
2000 N.Y. Mag. 8 May 78 Book editor Jayne Brook discovers on an island in the Azores that her often-absent mother..is really an undercover op for the CIA.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opn.6
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ = opportunity n. Frequently (often in plural) as the second element in compounds. equal ops n. = equal opportunities at equal opportunity n.. photo op: see photo n. and adj. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > an opportunity > [noun]
chance1297
occasiona1382
leisurec1386
opportunitya1387
advantage1487
portunity1516
in the nick1565
mean1592
vantage?1592
occasionet1593
overture1610
hinta1616
largeness1625
convenience1679
tid1721
opening1752
offer1831
slant1837
show1842
showing1852
show-up1883
window of opportunity1942
op1978
1978 Washington Post 8 May a9 Small Business—9 a.m. Open. Subc. on Capital Investment and Business Opp.
1981 Amer. Banker (Nexis) 14 July 2 The internal program has two major components. One is ‘Career Opps’ or opportunities..which provides a classified listing of all bank openings.
1994 Guardian 28 Sept. (Society section) 7/1 Another officer feels that, however well such courses work, the gulf between the ‘equal ops’ end of the police and the ‘canteen culture’ remains wide.
1996 Austin (Texas) Amer.-Statesman (Nexis) 31 May e1 Not one to miss a PR-opp..the shrewd Burgess swiftly fires Bailey.
2000 Evening Post (Bristol) (Electronic ed.) 2 Sept. With equal ops in the workplace..you would expect domestic chores to be distributed more or less evenly between the sexes.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opadj.
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ Of or relating to op art; (esp. in Fashion) displaying the bold geometrical patterns of op art.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > period, movement, or school of art > late 19th and 20th centuries > [adjective] > op-art
op1964
op art1966
1964 Time 23 Oct. 78/1 The Museum of Modern Art is planning an op show titled ‘The Responsive Eye’ early next year.
1965 Observer 23 May (Colour Suppl.) 23/2 Op(tical) dresses are dazzling—literally. They jar the eye with geometric billboard colour... Trad dresses are gentle and demure. Op. dresses are stark and simple.
1970 M. de Sausmarez Bridget Riley i. 15 Its decorative potential..has been..widely exploited commercially in ‘Op’ dresses, ‘Op’ advertising, and ‘Op’ packaging.
1988 L. Kaplan L. Moholy-Nagy (1995) 18 Before it even had a signature to call its own, one learns that Moholy was staging op effects and playing at camouflage.
1991 Mirabella May 96/1 The museum was an op blur of mod minis and psychedelic prints.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
opv.
/ɒp/, U.S. /ɑp/ rare.
transitive. = opus v.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > study or science of music > [verb (transitive)] > number works
opus1900
op1921
1921 A. B. Smith in Music & Lett. 2 364 Every piece of his is Op.-ed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> as lemmas
OP
OP n. (also o.p.) observation post.
Π
1916 F. M. Ford Let. 23 Aug. (1965) 69 George V..really was in some danger. At least he was in an O.P. that was being shelled fairly heavily.
1972 L. Lamb Pict. Frame ii. 20 Gerry's no fool, but we don't think our o.p. has been rumbled.
1990 Combat & Survival Mag. July 16/3 These OPs are the forward line of defense.
O.P.
O.P. n. now historical old price(s), usually referring to demonstrations at Covent Garden Theatre, London, in 1809, against a proposed new tariff of prices. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > other specific prices
subscription price1676
mint price1758
standard1778
pool price1789
O.P.1810
stumpage1835
mint value1839
maximum price1841
piece price1865
street price1865
supply price1870
base price1876
hammer-price1900
doorbuster1917
off-price1933
reference price1943
1810 Covent Garden Jrnl. 254 The O Ps, however, entered in force at half-price.
1813 J. Clarke Let. 28 Mar. in W. S. Partington Sir Walter's Post-bag (1932) 98 However, the song was encored—which I lamented, as it was repeated in tumult and O.P. uproar.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 603 Perry's firemen, who nightly assisted John Kemble's ‘What d'ye want’, during the ‘O. P. row’ at Covent-garden theatre.
1951 G. Wallas Life Francis Place ii. 48 In the autumn of 1809 the Westminster Committee found itself mixed up with the celebrated ‘O.P.’ riots in Covent Garden Theatre.
OP
OP n. (also op) Theatre opposite prompt.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [adjective] > opposite the prompter side
OP1780
1780 Rake's Progress (1977) 3 (stage direct.) Enter Starved Maid O.P.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. II. 203 That gentleman..lounging behind the stage-box on the O.P. side.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse My Man Jeeves 45 Lady Malvern was a hearty..female,..measuring about six feet from the O.P. to the Prompt Side.
1982 H. Rosenthal My Mad World of Opera viii. 89 A couple of rooms high up on the OP (opposite prompt) side of the stage.
OP
OP adj. and n. (a) adj. = organophosphorus adj.; (b) n. = organophosphate n.
Π
1969 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 160 357 Individuals with high organophosphorus (OP) exposure showed disturbed memory, alertness, and ability to focus attention on psychological tests.
1973 Comp. & Gen. Pharmacol. 4 219 (heading) An in vitro study of esterases hydrolysing specific substrates of an OP-susceptible and an OP-resistant strain of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulz.
1988 Ecology 69 590 Brain cholinesterase activity, a sensitive indicator of OP exposure in birds, was depressed and average of 93% in OP-dosed nestlings that died compared to controls.
1997 Independent 18 Feb. i. 2/5 Mr Hogg yesterday accepted the recommendations from a review of OP sheep dips carried out by the Veterinary Products Committee, which advises the Government on medicines for farm animals.
OP
OP adv. (also o.p.) out of print.
Π
1859 G. Simpson Let. 19 Nov. in George Eliot Lett. (1954) III. 209 He says you tell him Clerical Scenes is O.P.
1921 A. Bennett Let. 4 Sept. (1966) I. 296 It seems to me that..The Old Wives' Tale ought not to be o.p.
1992 SFRA Rev. July 7 We can expect to encounter increasing difficulties..with books being ‘out of print’ (OP) or ‘out of stock’.
O.P.
O.P. adj. (also o.p.) chiefly Australian overproof.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [adjective] > proof > over-proof
overproof1807
O.P.1874
1874 G. Walch Head over Heels 21 Old Mills soon took to tasting O.P. rum in pints and gills.
1894 Bulletin (Sydney) 28 Apr. 23/1 I started drinking at the shanty on the Flat Where the o.p. grog is snaky.
1980 N. Watkins Kangaroo Connection 102 Charles laughed, as the reference to a Burke-town mosquito net, meant a bottle of O.P. rum and swamp water.
OP
OP n. colloquial (originally and chiefly in electronic communications) original poster; used with reference to the user initiating a thread on an internet forum, message board, etc.
ΚΠ
1991 Albert ‘Rao’ in soc.culture.indian (Usenet newsgroup) 30 June The original poster (OP) got what he deserved.
2004 N.Y. Sun (Nexis) 10 Dec. (Knickerbocker section) 32 Still others chastised the responders and the OP (original poster).
2015 P. A. Hiscock et al. in B. Lausen et al. Data Sci. viii. 447 We define a thread to be solved only if the OP has awarded a 10 point score to a response.
O.P.
O.P. n. [initialism < post-classical Latin Ordo Praedicatorum, Ordinis Praedicatorum (from mid 13th cent. in British sources)] Order of Preachers (Dominicans).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious order > Dominican Order > [noun]
predicatory1660
O.P.1891
1891 Catholic Times 6 Mar. 2/7 Very Rev. Dr Keane, O.P.
1937 B. Jarrett Eng. Dominicans (rev. ed.) 186 Consecrated Bishop of Tiberiopolis by Pope Benedict XIII, O.P.
1972 Bookseller 2 Dec. 2543 (advt.) Sister Mary Joyce O.P.
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n.11784
n.21828n.31916n.41921n.51924n.61978adj.1964v.1921as lemmas