resistor
Americannoun
-
resistors
plural
noun
-
A device used in electrical circuits to maintain a constant relation between current flow and voltage. Resistors are used to step up or lower the voltage at different points in a circuit and to transform a current signal into a voltage signal or vice versa, among other uses. The electrical behavior of a resistor obeys Ohm's law for a constant resistance; however, some resistors are sensitive to heat, light, or other variables.
-
◆ Variable resistors, or rheostats, have a resistance that may be varied across a certain range, usually by means of a mechanical device that alters the position of one terminal of the resistor along a strip of resistant material. The length of the intervening material determines the resistance. Mechanical variable resistors are also called potentiometers, and are used in the volume knobs of audio equipment and in many other devices.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of resistor
Vocabulary lists containing resistor
Electricity and Magnetism - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Physics - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Physical Science - Energy - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Once in the late 1950s, while building machinery to record sounds a heart makes, he accidentally used the wrong resistor, but its electrical pulse rate was steady, like a heartbeat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
It is especially challenging to manufacture this layer because it must be thin enough so heat can transfer from the resistor to the microfluidic, but not so thin that fluid could leak into the resistor.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2023
A temperature-dependent resistor, or thermistor, senses the temperature, which controls the smell’s intensity.
From Scientific American ● May 9, 2023
The business, then called Kyoto Ceramic Company, got its first big break when it received an order to make resistor rods for the Apollo space program.
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2022
Maybe it’s wax dripping from the condenser or charcoal built up on a resistor.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
These objects are juxtaposed alongside digital detritus — circuit boards, resistors — that line the wooden boxes like wallpaper.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said "not a single bullet" had been fired - because "there are no resistors or detainees" inside.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2023
Another theory suggests that, in the photograph, Yang was alluding to Chinese resistors during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
It goes on to describe intelligence shared by an Enbridge employee, detailing the movements of various groups of pipeline resistors.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2023
And my electronics kit provided the answer: resistors.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
