meatball surgery
English
Etymology
Coined or popularised by Richard Hooker in the novel MASH (1968). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
meatball surgery (usually uncountable, plural meatball surgeries)
- (surgery, military, colloquial) Surgery performed rapidly in a military field hospital to stabilize the patient as quickly as possible.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see meatball, surgery.