operator

American  

[op-uh-ray-ter] / ˈɒp əˌreɪ tər /

noun

• operators
  plural

1. a person who operates a machine, apparatus, or the like.

   a telegraph operator.

2. a person who operates a telephone switchboard, especially for a telephone company.

3. a person who manages a working or industrial establishment, enterprise, or system.

   the operators of a mine.

4. a person who trades in securities, especially speculatively or on a large scale.

5. a person who performs a surgical operation; a surgeon.

6. Mathematics.

   1. a symbol for expressing a mathematical operation.

   2. a function, especially one transforming a function, set, etc., into another.

      a differential operator.

7. Informal.

   1. a person who accomplishes goals or purposes by devious means; faker; fraud.

   2. a person who is adroit at overcoming, avoiding, or evading difficulties, regulations, or restrictions.

   3. a person who is extremely successful with or smoothly persuasive to potential sexual or romantic partners.

8. Genetics. a segment of DNA that interacts with a regulatory molecule, preventing transcription of the adjacent region.

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operator British  

/ ˈɒpəˌreɪtə /

noun

1. a person who operates a machine, instrument, etc, esp, a person who makes connections on a telephone switchboard or at an exchange

2. a person who owns or operates an industrial or commercial establishment

3. a speculator, esp one who operates on currency or stock markets

4. informal a person who manipulates affairs and other people

5. maths any symbol, term, letter, etc, used to indicate or express a specific operation or process, such as Δ (the differential operator)

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operator Scientific  

/ ŏp′ə-rā′tər /

1. Mathematics A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector. In quantum mechanics, measurable quantities of a physical system, such as position and momentum, are related to unique operators applied to the wave equation describing the system.

2. A logical operator.

3. Genetics A segment of chromosomal DNA that regulates the activity of the structural genes of an operon by interacting with a specific repressor.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preoperator
  noun
• self-operator
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• operators
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of operator

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Late Latin, equivalent to operā(rī) “to work, effect” ( see operate) + Latin -tor noun suffix ( see -tor)

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Explanation

An operator is a person who runs a machine, equipment, or a vehicle. If you want to be a jackhammer operator some day, you might hope to work on a road crew of for a construction company. An operator operates, or controls, something. You could be a radio operator, a heavy machinery operator, or even a telephone operator — or you can be the operator, or manager, of a business. If you start your own dog walking company, you can call yourself an "owner-operator." The Latin root of both operator and operate is operari, "to work," and "to cause."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

operator operators

Our phone numbers are through Tello, a mobile virtual-network operator that rents tower space from T-Mobile.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

"You cannot see," tour operator Diddy Hamidon told AFP, looking out at a vista now shrouded in haze.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Telecommunications operator Swisscom said in response that it remains committed to advancing its fiber rollout at pace, and that it would analyze the potential implications of the judgment for the further expansion of its infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Six Flags is the largest amusement park operator in North America, with 20 amusement parks, 14 water parks and nine resorts across Canada, the US and Mexico.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

But since my only association of Louisa is as a telephone operator, I realize that in my mind I had thought we would be traveling to Central.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

The robots arrived accompanied by Ted Pinkerton, a founding engineer at Tau, who communicated with Bolo and Sergey’s human operators through a Bluetooth earpiece.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry,” Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

In a statement, Mobile UK, the trade association for the UK's mobile network operators, said mobile connectivity is "an essential service, not a luxury".

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

AI is already being used to make electricity grids more efficient in complex energy systems, helping operators manage the variability of solar and wind power.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

But operators knew that the scram is only the first step in reaching what is known as cold shutdown.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

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Related Words

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