Babbage

[ bab-ij ]

/ ˈbæb ɪdʒ /

noun

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for babbage

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|DAILY BEAST
Babbage never had the chance to complete his groundbreaking calculating machine.
Great Weekend Reads|The Daily Beast|March 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
Mr Babbage makes a very useless parade here of his calculating machine.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 354, April 1845|Various
After dinner, Babbage, in his grimmest manner, thanked Carlyle for his very interesting lecture on silence.
Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters|Charles Darwin
Babbage was here for a day or two during the year before last.
Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville|Mary Somerville
In 1832 Mr. Babbage, in his work on the "Economy of Manufactures," suggested a new plan of conveying the mail.
Coaching, with Anecdotes of the Road|William Pitt Lennox
But if these machines were ingenious, what shall we think of the calculating machine of Mr. Babbage?
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe|Edgar Allan Poe

British Dictionary definitions for babbage

Babbage

/ (ˈbæbɪdʒ) /

noun

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

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

Science definitions for babbage

Babbage

[ băb′ĭj ]

Charles 1792-1871

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.