Word for the day modus operandi

modus operandi
[moh-duh s op-uh-ran-dee, -dahy]

noun,
1. mode of operating or working.

2. a particular way or method of doing something, especially one that is characteristic or well-established.

3. (law enforcement) A known criminal's established habits and mode of work when committing specific offences, especially fraud, matched with characteristics of an unsolved crime to narrow down (limit to a specific list) or profile suspects. Often abbreviated m.o. or MO particularly when referring to a criminal's MO.

The targeted killings of former Mujahedeen commanders in the north and tribal elders in the south mark a strategic shift in the Taliban’s modus operandi. [New York Times]
 

Heard this many times on cop shows and we usually hear it as MO. For a long time I heard that it stood for method of operation.
 

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