From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
operating
adj 1: involved in a kind of operation; "the operating
conditions of the oxidation pond"
2: being in effect or operation; "de facto apartheid is still
operational even in the `new' African nations"- Leslie Marmon
Silko; "bus service is in operation during the emergency";
"the company had several operating divisions" [syn:
operational, {in operation(p)}, {operating(a)}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Operate \Op"er*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Operated; p. pr. &
vb. n. Operating.] [L. operatus, p. p. of operari to work,
fr. opus, operis, work, labor; akin to Skr. apas, and also to
G. ["u]ben to exercise, OHG. uoben, Icel. [ae]fa. Cf.
Inure, Maneuver, Ure.]
1. To perform a work or labor; to exert power or strength,
physical or mechanical; to act.
[1913 Webster]
2. To produce an appropriate physical effect; to issue in the
result designed by nature; especially (Med.), to take
appropriate effect on the human system.
[1913 Webster]
3. To act or produce effect on the mind; to exert moral power
or influence.
[1913 Webster]
The virtues of private persons operate but on a few.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
A plain, convincing reason operates on the mind both
of a learned and ignorant hearer as long as they
live. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Surg.) To perform some manual act upon a human body in a
methodical manner, and usually with instruments, with a
view to restore soundness or health, as in amputation,
lithotomy, etc.
[1913 Webster]
5. To deal in stocks or any commodity with a view to
speculative profits. [Brokers' Cant]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
operating \operating\ adj.
1. pr. p. of operate; as, the operating conditions of the
oxidation pond.
[WordNet 1.5]
2. having an effect or influence.
Syn: at work(predicate), in operation, operant.
[WordNet 1.5]