computer
a programmable electronic device designed to accept data, perform prescribed mathematical and logical operations at high speed, and display the results of these operations. Mainframes, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones are some of the different types of computers.: Compare analog computer, digital computer.
a computer program or algorithm: A computer can write a pop tune, but there's no guarantee it will be a hit.
a person who computes; computist.
Origin of computer
1Other words from computer
- com·put·er·like, adjective
- non·com·put·er, adjective
Words Nearby computer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use computer in a sentence
After studying computer models of natural water flow — both saltwater and fresh — they begin a massive restoration project.
Soggy coastal soils? Here’s why ecologists love them | Alison Pearce Stevens | September 17, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThe device, in turn, can convert the handwritten text into more standard computer fonts.
Apple debuts its new iPad and iPad Air during its ‘Time Flies’ event | jonathanvanian2015 | September 15, 2020 | FortuneA form of quantum teleportation will take place inside through the strange quantum mechanical properties of “superposition” and “entanglement” that make quantum computers hum—even if this device won’t zap my own body’s molecules to another planet.
IBM plans a huge leap in superfast quantum computing by 2023 | rhhackettfortune | September 15, 2020 | FortuneThese missions have delivered life-saving drugs, sparked the computer and internet revolutions, and put humans on the moon.
To confront the climate crisis, the US should launch a National Energy Innovation Mission | Amy Nordrum | September 15, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewYounger kids may be making a big jump from mobile devices to traditional laptops or desktop computers, too, which might make them feel a bit lost.
Make online classes easier with these laptop shortcuts | Sandra Gutierrez G. | September 15, 2020 | Popular-Science
In this war, the targeting is often happening on computer monitors thousands of miles away, capturing images from drones.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War | Nancy A. Youssef | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe resources were what you might expect: Dining room, a media center, a library, a TV room, a meeting room, a computer room.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside | Justin Rohrlich | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTJust a few short years ago, I sat down at my computer, and I typed out a similar goodbye letter.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen | Parker Molloy | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTTurn off the TV, put down your phone, and log off the computer.
He grew up both a computer geek in the early days of video games and an avid record collector.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy | Oliver Jones | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSomebody else led the way to a storeroom, tossed its contents into the hall, and festooned it with used computer tape.
Security | Poul William AndersonThe gears on the mechanical computer were really sharp and precise; they looked like you could cut yourself on them.
Makers | Cory DoctorowI want all of you to understand that the machine you will have to take care of is not just an ordinary computer.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall GarrettMost people, if told that a man had said one thing, and that a computer had given a different answer, would rely on the computer.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall GarrettIt is further distinguished by the use of the zero, which enabled the computer to dispense with the columns of the Abacus.
The Earliest Arithmetics in English | Anonymous
British Dictionary definitions for computer
/ (kəmˈpjuːtə) /
a device, usually electronic, that processes data according to a set of instructions. The digital computer stores data in discrete units and performs arithmetical and logical operations at very high speed. The analog computer has no memory and is slower than the digital computer but has a continuous rather than a discrete input. The hybrid computer combines some of the advantages of digital and analog computers: See also digital computer, analog computer, hybrid computer
(as modifier): computer technology Related prefix: cyber-
a person who computes or calculates
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
Scientific definitions for computer
[ kəm-pyōō′tər ]
A programmable machine that performs high-speed processing of numbers, as well as of text, graphics, symbols, and sound. All computers contain a central processing unit that interprets and executes instructions; input devices, such as a keyboard and a mouse, through which data and commands enter the computer; memory that enables the computer to store programs and data; and output devices, such as printers and display screens, that show the results after the computer has processed data.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for computer
An electronic device that stores and manipulates information. Unlike a calculator, it is able to store a program and retrieve information from its memory. Most computers today are digital, which means they perform operations with quantities represented electronically as digits.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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