conductor

American  

[kuhn-duhk-ter] / kənˈdʌk tər /

noun

conductors plural

1. a person who conducts; a leader, guide, director, or manager.

2. an employee on a bus, train, or other public conveyance, who is in charge of the conveyance and its passengers, collects fares or tickets, etc.

3. a person who directs an orchestra or chorus, communicating a specific interpretation of the music to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands

4. a substance, body, or device that readily conducts heat, electricity, sound, etc..

   Copper is a good conductor of electricity.

5. lightning rod.

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conductor British  

/ kənˈdʌktə, kənˈdʌktrɪs /

noun

1. an official on a bus who collects fares, checks tickets, etc

2. Also called (esp US): director.  a person who conducts an orchestra, choir, etc

3. a person who leads or guides

4. a railway official in charge of a train

5. a substance, body, or system that conducts electricity, heat, etc

6. See lightning conductor

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conductor Scientific  

/ kən-dŭk′tər /

1. A material or an object that conducts heat, electricity, light, or sound. Electrical conductors contain electric charges (usually electrons) that are relatively free to move through the material; a voltage applied across the conductor therefore creates an electric current. Insulators (electrical nonconductors) contain no charges that move when subject to a voltage.

2. Compare insulator See also resistance superconductivity

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conductor Cultural  

1. A material through which electric current (see also current) can pass. In general, metals are good conductors. Copper or aluminum is normally used to conduct electricity in commercial and household systems. (Compare insulator.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conductorship
  noun
• conductress
  noun
• preconductor
  noun
• conductorial
  adjective
• multiconductor
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• conductors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conductor

First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin ( see conduce, -tor); replacing late Middle English cond(u)itour from Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French conduiteur from Latin as above; see conduit

Explanation

A train conductor is the person who takes tickets, shouts "All aboard!" and might control the engine, while a musical conductor is the one who leads an orchestra. Same job title — not the same person. From the Latin root conducere, meaning "bring together," a conductor does just that. A music conductor makes sure all the musicians come in at the right time and tempo, and a train conductor brings together all of the passengers. Another type of conductor is something that passes on electricity or heat, like a metal spoon, a conductor of heat when left in a pot that's simmering on the stove.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conductor conductors

Anthropic’s most powerful model, Fable, acts as a conductor that plans out work while open-weight models do the implementation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

It begs the question what next for Spain's conductor?

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Keep an eye on No. 16, Rodri—he’s the midfielder who stirs it all, like a conductor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Also added to the lineup in Wednesday's announcement were Nigerian singer-songwriter Burna Boy and Venezuelan classical conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

A child can be the conductor of the piece, and set a tempo by slowly moving their finger along the “score” as other children perform their different parts.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

There are conductors who take it seriously and get away with it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

"Since India hasn't done much in AI or renewable energy or semi conductors, there are not many industries generating the kind of excitement or long-term returns investors now see elsewhere in Asia," says Sengupta.

From BBC ● May 14, 2026

They were busy elsewhere along with these conductors and directors:

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

OpenAI, Google, and others followed, and now some developers see themselves as conductors of an orchestra of coding agents that are simultaneously working on different parts of an application at the same time.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

Also, I remembered from when I used to take the subway that the conductors used keys to open and close the doors, so there were those, too.

From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

Related Words

• director
• maestro
• manager
• master
• supervisor