calculator

[ kal-kyuh-ley-ter ]

/ ˈkæl kyəˌleɪ tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR calculator ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who calculates or computes.

Also called calculating machine. a small electronic or mechanical device that performs calculations, requiring manual action for each individual opertion.

a person who operates such a machine.

a set of tables that facilitates calculation.

Nearby words

calculated, calculated risk, calculating, calculating machine, calculation, calculator, calculatory, calculosis, calculous, calculus, calculus of finite differences

Origin of calculator

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin; see calculate, -tor

Related forms

min·i·cal·cu·la·tor, noun

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

Examples from the Web for calculator

I used to dismantle a calculator to understand how it works.
Vilified Bitcoin Tycoon After Losing $500 Million: My Life Is at Risk|Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If I read my calculator right, that would be 0.000001 per cent.
At Davos 2014, The Gods Of Mischief Rule|Christopher Dickey|January 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Was the calculator created only to pump up sales of the already multi-billion-dollar statin market?
Up to Speed: The Cholesterol Mess|Kent Sepkowitz|November 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
According to the Times' calculator, Romney would have had to win 73 percent of the Hispanic vote to prevail in 2012.
Immigration Reform: Not a Magic Cure for the GOP|David Frum|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Now you have to either buy two, or break out the calculator.
The Incredible Shrinking Sugar Bag|Megan McArdle|November 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
She had a figure like an ironing board and the soul of a Ramsden calculator.
Unwise Child|Gordon Randall Garrett
His calculator was so contrived that it would record in type the results of its own computations.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 79, May, 1864|Various
Yard after yard of calculator paper was filled with equations and computations.
Spacehounds of IPC|Edward Elmer Smith
Between them, a man was bending over a makeshift desk, copying information from a calculator and a set of blueprints.
Sabotage in Space|Carey Rockwell
Well, says the calculator, but who has the offices of the nation?
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 2 (of 3)|Theodore Parker

British Dictionary definitions for calculator

calculator

/ (ˈkælkjʊˌleɪtə) /

noun

a device for performing mathematical calculations, esp an electronic device that can be held in the hand

a person or thing that calculates

a set of tables used as an aid to calculations

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

Culture definitions for calculator

calculator

An electronic device for performing automatic mathematical computations, usually controlled by a keyboard. Some are actually small computers, with limited memory, that allow the user to use simple programs.