Meaning & use
operating principle
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Meanings
nouncountablebusiness
A basic rule or belief that guides how a person, team or organization behaves and makes decisions day to day.
Grammar: Countable and often plural: our operating principles, one operating principle.
Patterns
- the operating principle of something
- an operating principle that + clause
Our operating principle is simple: tell customers the truth, even when it hurts.
The team wrote down three operating principles before the project began.
Fairness was the operating principle behind every decision she made.
nouncountabletechnical
The basic scientific idea that explains how a machine or device does its job.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: the operating principle of a heat pump.
Patterns
- the operating principle of something
The operating principle of a refrigerator is moving heat from inside to outside.
Engineers explained the operating principle of the engine to the visitors.
The two scanners share the same operating principle but differ in size.
Word forms
| plural | operating principles |
|---|
Common combinations
- a guiding operating principle
- Safety is the guiding operating principle of the whole company.
- adopt an operating principle
- The new manager adopted a clear operating principle: no surprises.
- the basic operating principle
- The basic operating principle of a lever has not changed in centuries.
- core operating principles
- Honesty and respect are among our core operating principles.
Synonyms and how they differ
- guiding principle
- Guiding principle focuses on values that steer choices, while operating principle can also mean how a machine works.
- working principle
- Working principle is common in engineering and nearly always describes machines, not people's values.
- rule of thumb
- A rule of thumb is a rough practical guide, whereas an operating principle is a firmer, deliberate foundation.
Word family
- operate verb
- to work or to run something
- operation noun
- the way something works or is run
- operational adjective
- ready for use or relating to running a business
- principled adjective
- guided by firm moral beliefs
Commonly confused: operating principle or principal?
operating principle vs principal
Principal means main or the head of a school; principle means a basic rule or belief, and is the right spelling here.
Practice
Choose the correct word. The company's main operating ___ is to put customer safety first.
Choose one answer.
Principle is the noun meaning a basic rule. Principal is a different word, meaning main or a school head, and does not fit this noun phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “operating principle”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.