Babbage

[bab-ij]

See more synonyms for Babbage on Thesaurus.com

noun

Charles,1792–1871, English mathematician: invented the precursor of the modern computer.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for babbage

Contemporary Examples

In 1821, Babbage had the idea for his first Difference Engine, the predecessor of the modern computer.
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
March 5, 2011
Babbage never had the chance to complete his groundbreaking calculating machine.
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
March 5, 2011
Eventually, as Babbage's vision grew ever more expansive, the government invested over £17,000 ($28,000).
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
March 5, 2011
Babbage, Herschel, Whewell, and Jones set out on massive projects to collect and make sense of vast data sets.
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
March 5, 2011
And Babbage dreamed up a machine that could churn through and make sense of this information.
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
March 5, 2011

Historical Examples

I met him about 1830 at Babbage's breakfast table, and there for the only time in our lives we conversed.
Great Astronomers
R. S. Ball
There's the widow Babbage, down to Dock: she always had a hankering for you.
The Adventures of Harry Revel
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
From 1828 to 1839 Babbage was Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1
Various
In 1815, in February, Mr. Babbage began a course of lectures on Astronomy.
The Royal Institution
Bence Jones
We encamped this night about six miles above Babbage Island.
Journals of Australian Explorations
A C and F T Gregory

British Dictionary definitions for babbage

Babbage

noun

Charles 1792–1871, English mathematician and inventor, who built a calculating machine that anticipated the modern electronic computer

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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

babbage in Science

Babbage

[băb′ĭj]

British mathematician who is considered a pioneer of computer science. In 1837 Babbage described an idea for the analytical engine, a machine that could be programmed with punched cards to perform complex calculations. Although Babbage never finished building the analytical engine, his idea is recognized as the forerunner of the modern computer.

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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.