moderator

[mod-uh-rey-ter]

noun

1. a person or thing that moderates.

2. a person who presides over a panel discussion on radio or television.

3. a member of an online message board or electronic mailing list with privileges and responsibilities to approve or reject messages and uphold the terms of service.

4. a presiding officer, as at a public forum, a legislative body, or an ecclesiastical body in the Presbyterian Church.

5. Physics.,  a substance, as graphite or heavy water, used to slow neutrons to speeds at which they are more efficient in causing fission.

moderator

/ ˈmɒdəˌreɪtə /

noun

1. a person or thing that moderates

2. Presbyterian Church a minister appointed to preside over a Church court, synod, or general assembly

3. a presiding officer at a public or legislative assembly

4. a material, such as heavy water or graphite, used for slowing down neutrons in the cores of nuclear reactors so that they have more chance of inducing nuclear fission

5. an examiner at Oxford or Cambridge Universities in first public examinations

6. (in Britain and New Zealand) one who is responsible for consistency of standards in the grading of some educational assessments

7. a person who monitors the conversations in an on-line chatroom for bad language, inappropriate content, etc

moderator

1. A substance, such as graphite, water, or heavy water, placed in a nuclear reactor to slow neutrons down to speeds at which they are more likely to be captured by fissionable components of a fuel (such as uranium-235) and less likely to be absorbed by nonfissionable components of a fuel (such as uranium-238).

2. Also called neutron moderator

3. See also slow neutron

Other Word Forms

• moderatorial adjective
• moderatorship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of moderator¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin moderātor, equivalent to moderā ( rī ) to control ( moderate ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Another moderator, who goes by the handle Lantis28, said political optimism is “finding the good in whatever is happening.”

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Ninja says every day moderators have to remove people from his streams for being rude about his viewership falling.

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"There's still a massive 'no vote' in Norway. And so the voters are not there," said journalist Fredrik Solvang, who was one of the moderators of the TV debate in Arendal.

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The platform said it has more than a thousand moderators working on the issue.

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Progressive voices countered that Welker had pinned him down, particularly on the Bolton raid, with some calling it her toughest test yet as moderator.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• mediator 
• referee