procedure

1. 1.

   a particular course of action intended to achieve a result

   “the procedure of obtaining a driver's license”

   “it was a process of trial and error”

   Synonymsprocess

   Broaderactivity

   NarrowerBertillon systemfingerprintinggenetic profilingdiagnostic procedureemergency procedureexperimental procedurecalculationmedical proceduremappingoperating procedure
2. 2.

   a process or series of acts especially of a practical or mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work

   “the operations in building a house”

   “certain machine tool operations”

   Synonymsoperation

   Broaderwork
3. 3.

   a set sequence of steps, part of larger computer program

   Synonymsroutinesubroutinesubprogramfunction

   Broadersoftware

   Narrowercataloged procedurecontingency procedurelibrary routinerandom number generatorrecursive routinereusable routinesupervisory routinetracing routineutility routine

   Part ofprogram
4. 4.

   a mode of conducting legal and parliamentary proceedings

   Broaderproceeding

   Narrowerbureaucratic procedureobjection

Other forms of procedure

plural

procedures·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about procedure

What does procedure mean?

procedure means "a particular course of action intended to achieve a result". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in procedure?

procedure has 3 syllables: pro-ce-dure. The stress falls on "ce". In IPA it is /pɹəˈsidʒɚ/.

What is another word for procedure?

Close synonyms include process, operation, routine, subroutine, subprogram. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is procedure a common word?

procedure is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.