conductor

American  

[kuhn-duhk-ter] / kənˈdʌk tər /

noun

• conductors
  plural

1. a person who conducts; a leader, guide, director, or manager.

2. an employee on a bus, train, or other public conveyance, who is in charge of the conveyance and its passengers, collects fares or tickets, etc.

3. a person who directs an orchestra or chorus, communicating a specific interpretation of the music to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands

4. a substance, body, or device that readily conducts heat, electricity, sound, etc..

   Copper is a good conductor of electricity.

5. lightning rod.

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conductor British  

/ kənˈdʌktə, kənˈdʌktrɪs /

noun

1. an official on a bus who collects fares, checks tickets, etc

2. Also called (esp US): director.  a person who conducts an orchestra, choir, etc

3. a person who leads or guides

4. a railway official in charge of a train

5. a substance, body, or system that conducts electricity, heat, etc

6. See lightning conductor

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conductor Scientific  

/ kən-dŭk′tər /

1. A material or an object that conducts heat, electricity, light, or sound. Electrical conductors contain electric charges (usually electrons) that are relatively free to move through the material; a voltage applied across the conductor therefore creates an electric current. Insulators (electrical nonconductors) contain no charges that move when subject to a voltage.

2. Compare insulator See also resistance superconductivity

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conductor Cultural  

1. A material through which electric current (see also current) can pass. In general, metals are good conductors. Copper or aluminum is normally used to conduct electricity in commercial and household systems. (Compare insulator.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conductorship
  noun
• conductress
  noun
• preconductor
  noun
• conductorial
  adjective
• multiconductor
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conductors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conductor

First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin ( see conduce, -tor); replacing late Middle English cond(u)itour from Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French conduiteur from Latin as above; see conduit

Explanation

A train conductor is the person who takes tickets, shouts "All aboard!" and might control the engine, while a musical conductor is the one who leads an orchestra. Same job title — not the same person. From the Latin root conducere, meaning "bring together," a conductor does just that. A music conductor makes sure all the musicians come in at the right time and tempo, and a train conductor brings together all of the passengers. Another type of conductor is something that passes on electricity or heat, like a metal spoon, a conductor of heat when left in a pot that's simmering on the stove.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conductor conductors

Bouaddi functions as a deep-lying conductor - much in the same vein as Rodri - and would complement summer signing Anderson, who is more of a box-to-box midfielder.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Bouaddi functions as a deep-lying conductor - much in the same vein as Rodri - and would complement summer signing Elliot Anderson, who is more of a box-to-box midfielder.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

When asked whether he saw himself as a composer who conducts or a conductor who composes, he simply laughed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Anthropic’s most powerful model, Fable, acts as a conductor that plans out work while open-weight models do the implementation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

We would hop onto the car at the end opposite from where the conductor stood.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

They cited a 1923 contract between Edison and Pacific Electric Railway Co. that said that “leakage of electricity or induction from or between” conductors was an inherent risk of operating multiple electrical circuits in proximity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

Passengers have boarded, conductors have checked tickets, and everything appears ready to go.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026

The LA Philharmonic's creative director Esa-Pekka Salonen described Harding as "absolutely one of the most important conductors of our time".

From BBC ● May 26, 2026

They were busy elsewhere along with these conductors and directors:

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

Also, I remembered from when I used to take the subway that the conductors used keys to open and close the doors, so there were those, too.

From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

Related Words

• director
• maestro
• manager
• master
• supervisor