analog computer

American  

noun

1. a computer that represents data by measurable quantities, as voltages or, formerly, the rotation of gears, in order to solve a problem, rather than by expressing the data as numbers.

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analog computer British  

noun

1. a mechanical, electrical, or electronic computer that performs arithmetical operations by using some variable physical quantity, such as mechanical movement or voltage, to represent numbers

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Etymology

Origin of analog computer

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50

Example Sentences

His analog computer, a brass calculating machine, used gears and pulleys to represent the 10 most important tidal components and recorded the predictions on a rolling piece of paper.

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2014

The company's proudest boast is that it was tapped by the Navy to build the computer that aims and orients the Polaris missile, replacing a less effective General Electric analog computer.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the onetime professor at M.I.T.--where he built a massive, gear-driven analog computer called the differential analyzer--was also a prophet.

From Time Magazine Archive

The game ran on an ancient analog computer and was played on a tiny oscilloscope screen about five inches in diameter.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Trained as an electrical engineer, in the 1920s he had invented a machine known as a differential analyzer: an analog computer whose digital offspring would dominate the information age.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik