generator

[ jen-uh-rey-ter ]

noun

1. a machine that converts one form of energy into another, especially mechanical energy into electrical energy, as a dynamo, or electrical energy into sound, as an acoustic generator.
2. a person or thing that generates.
3. Chemistry. an apparatus for producing a gas or vapor.
4. Mathematics.
   1. an element or one of a set of elements from which a specified mathematical object can be formed by applying certain operations.
   2. an element, as a line, that generates a figure.
5. Computers. a program that produces a particular type of output on demand, as random numbers, an application program, or a report.

generator

/ ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtə /

noun

1. physics
   1. any device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction, esp a large one as in a power station
   2. a device for producing a voltage electrostatically
   3. any device that converts one form of energy into another form

      an acoustic generator

2. an apparatus for producing a gas
3. a person or thing that generates

generator

1. A device that produces electric current (see also current ), usually by rotating a conductor in a magnetic field , thereby generating current through electromagnetic induction . This sort of generator produces an alternating current (AC) .

Word History and Origins

Origin of generator¹

1640–50; < Latin generātor producer, equivalent to generā ( re ) ( generate ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

“Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, sometimes five minutes, for the generator to restart and the power to come back on,” he told me.

From The Daily Beast

The Dazeem sensation arguably hit its peak with the Slate Adele Dazeem Name Generator, a widget designed to Travoltify any name.

From The Daily Beast

We took the genre descriptions, broke them down to their key words… and built our own new-genre generator.

From The Daily Beast

But the economic generator theory has been debunked over the past two decades.

From The Daily Beast

Running on power from a generator, it is constantly mortared and is a frequent target of airstrikes.

From The Daily Beast

He applied voltage till his generator groaned, and watched in awe as meters climbed and climbed without any sign of stopping.

From Project Gutenberg

The generator hummed, the needles of the dials climbed, flickered, and steadied.

From Project Gutenberg

The generator was completed and installed on the nineteenth night.

From Project Gutenberg

The summer sun was hot the day the generator hummed into life.

From Project Gutenberg

"I didn't realize it would take such a large generator," he said after a silence.

From Project Gutenberg