▪ I. op1
A colloquial abbreviation of optime, q.v.
| 1828 Sporting Mag. XXI. 426 Aspirant Senior Ops' and embryo Wranglers. 1894 Ch. Times 26 Jan. 84 A pleasure which he would not have exchanged for a place among the Senior Ops. |
▪ II. op2 Mus.
(ɒp)
Pl. opp, ops.
Abbrev. opus 1 (rarely opus v.).
In some early uses the abbreviation may be of the Italian opera.
| 1784 (title) A Favorite Concerto for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte with Accompanyments: Composed by Giuseppe Haydn. Op. 37. a 1865 Mrs. Gaskell Let. (1966) 817 Violet: ‘Have you brought any music down Miss Gaskell?’ Meta: ‘No.’ Violet: ‘Oh—but I've brought Op. 7 down with me.’ 1880 [see opus 1]. 1885 W. S. Gilbert Mikado ii. 36 The music hall singer attends a series Of masses and fugues and ‘ops’ By Bach, interwoven With Spohr and Beethoven, At classical Monday Pops. 1901 Punch 1 May 325/2 (caption) Lady (referring to programme, to friend). ‘{oqq}Schumann, Op. 2{cqq}. What's the meaning of {oqq}Op. 2{cqq}?’ 'Arry (who thinks he is being addressed, and always ready to oblige with information). ‘Oh, Op. 2. Second dance; second 'op, yer know. May I 'ave the pleasure?’ 1921 [see opus v.]. 1924 Public Opinion 12 Sept. 258/2 No longer does light and irresponsible music suffice as it did in days that are gone. The inclination of the public is towards the classical. The programmes that give the ‘symphonies and ops’ prove the most attractive. 1933 Radio Times 14 Apr. 108/2 The famous violinist, Rode, for whom Beethoven..composed this sonata for violin and pianoforte, Op. 96. 1968 Listener 11 July 56/2 These waltzes..differ considerably in style from the fine set of six waltzes for piano duet, Op. 22, of only a little later. 1974 Times 19 Oct. 9/6 Ashkenazy chooses..slow tempo for the fugues..in Op. 110. 1975 Gramophone July 205/1 Dvorak. Slavonic Dances, Opp. 46 and 72. |
▪ III. op3
(ɒp)
1. Colloq. abbrev. operation. a. = operation 6.
| 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. 1932 A. Christie Peril at End House iii. 50 Just before my op... Operation. For appendicitis. 1933 Joyce Let. 30 May (1966) III. 281 Dangerous for operated eye which may go blind during op. because of loss of vitreous. 1934 Punch 11 Apr. 397/1 No need for immediate op.; right eye untouched, but he fears left may be permanently damaged. 1953 C. Day Lewis Italian Visit v. 59 I'd not advise you to believe There's a slick op. to end your grief. 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. 1974 O. Manning Rain Forest ii. i. 139 ‘I was so tired the evening we reached Al-Bustan, I forgot to take that damn pill.’ ‘If it was as long ago as that, it is too late, dear, unless you want a major op.’ |
b. Freq. pl. = operation 7. Also attrib. and transf.
In quots. 19411, 19421 short for Operations Room.
| 1916 [see night op s.v. night n. 14]. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 215 Ops., operations. 1941 Jrnl. Aeronaut. Sci. (Aeronaut. Rev. sect.) Jan. 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. 1941 Illustr. London News CXCVIII. 434/1 The bomber pilot is aware that his squadron is scheduled for what the Service calls ‘Ops’ (Operations) when his batman wakes him with an early-morning cup of tea. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 112, I went up to ops. at five-thirty. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 33 The..officer..delved into his brief-case and produced the ops log. 1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 89 Make certain before going out on ops. that you have your whistle. 1944 ‘N. Shute’ Pastoral iii. 57 Each day we practise some new thing that we have learnt from the last op. 1949 Radio Times 15 July 38/3 Ann Scott,..gets into conversation..with an American girl who met a boy in the R.A.F. three months ago... ‘Now he's starting Ops and he wants us to get married right away—he's like that!’ 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. 1973 ‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing x. 120 They'd been forced to set up the op... The decision-making had been at Prime Minister level. 1973 D. Miller Chinese Jade Affair xviii. 173, I looked in some awe at the maps spread out in true ‘Ops Room’ fashion. |
2. Colloq. abbrev. operative n., operator. a. A (private) detective (see operative n. 3 b).
| 1926 Clues Nov. 162/1 Op, a private detective agency operator. 1927 D. Hammett in Black Mask May 24/1 He says in all his fifty years of gum-shoeing he's never seen such a handsome op, besides being a fashion plate and a social butterfly and the heir to millions. 1929 ― Dain Curse (1930) xx. 224 ‘Can you spare me another op?’ I asked. ‘MacMan is available.’ 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?’ |
b. A radio or telegraph operator (see operator 5). (See also quot. 1970.)
| 1931 G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 138 Op, a telegraph operator. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 94 Two bumped off—tail gunner and wireless op. 1970 Amer. Speech 1968 XLIII. 288 Op, a telephone, telegraph, or teletype operator. 1973 A. Ross Dunfermline Affair 13 He had been a Radio Op in the R.A.F. |
▪ IV. op4
(ɒp)
colloq. abbrev. optical a. 2 c. op art, = optical art s.v. optical a. 2 c. Also attrib. orig. U.S.
| 1964 Time 23 Oct. 78/1 No less a break from abstract expressionism than pop art, op art is made tantalizing, eye-teasing, even eye-smarting by visual researchers using all the ingredients of an optometrist's nightmare. Ibid., The Museum of Modern Art is planning an op show titled ‘The Responsive Eye’ early next year. 1964, 1965 [see optical a. 2 c]. 1965 Observer 28 Feb. 2/6 ‘Op Art’—as it is known among the smart set—has taken America's contemporary art enthusiasts by storm, and made its predecessor, ‘Pop Art’, seem passé. Ibid. (Colour Suppl.) 23 May 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. 1965 Sun 24 May 5/7 Then you get a blasting of Op art—that's the optical illusion art that the young artists are raving about. 1966 Time 28 Jan. 44 Hard on the heels of op artists, who address their work to the retina, has come a widespread number of ‘kinetic’ artists, who try to combine mechanics and art. 1966 Punch 2 Feb. 158/1 (caption) Or there's this op-art bowler, sir, for more formal occasions. Ibid. 15 June 876/3 Knee-length skirts, non-plastic fabrics, non-Op shoes; also short-haired men and neat girls in plain stockings. 1967 J. Symons Man who killed Himself ii. vi. 184 She was dressed now in a black and white op art dress. 1967 Punch 21 June 906/1 Infinite trouble is taken by op artists to produce an illusion of movement. 1967 Spectator 18 Aug. 194/3 With bright Op patternings, primary Pop colours and uninhibited use of synthetic materials, these designers..parallel our painters and sculptors in inventing new shapes and forms through the use of new materials. 1970 M. de Sausmarez Bridget Riley i. 15 Its decorative potential..has been..widely exploited commercially in ‘Op’ dresses, ‘Op’ advertising, and ‘Op’ packaging. 1970 W. J. Burley To kill Cat i. 12 A sleeveless frock in gay op-art material. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VII. 545/1 The effects of Op art can be based either on perspective illusion or on chromatic tension; in painting, the dominant medium of Op art, the surface tension is usually maximized to the point at which an actual flickering is perceived by the human eye. 1974 Listener 24 Jan. 108/2 Artists (especially Op-artists and the like) can impose an unjustifiable authority on the observer. 1976 ‘Z. Stone’ Modigliani Scandal i. iii. 35 He..looked at the desk... The grain..flowed like an op-art painting. |
▪ V. op
ME. variant of up adv., prep., and prefix.