conductor

[kuhn-duhk-ter]

noun

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.

conductor

/ 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

conductor

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

conductor

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.)

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of conductor¹

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

Example Sentences

In the face of budget cuts, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is reducing its East Los Angeles youth orchestra program championed by outgoing star conductor Gustavo Dudamel by cutting staff and daily operations.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The former adds to and complements the museum’s mission of preserving the legacy of Walt Disney, showing the park patriarch as something of a conductor who built Disneyland with the help of creatives across Hollywood.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Nancy Shear wasn’t yet out of her teens when she was hired as musical assistant to the eminent and enigmatic symphony conductor Leopold Stokowski, who became her mentor and a father figure of sorts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Moments later, cued by a downward strike of the conductor’s baton, the music swelled and filled the theater.

Read more on Literature

“Whatever adventures our journey holds, we are safer together than apart,” Penelope thought as the conductor helped them one by one onto the train.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• director 
• maestro 
• manager 
• master 
• supervisor