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converter

or con·ver·tor

[kuh n-vur-ter]
See more synonyms for converter on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that converts.
  2. Electricity. a device that converts alternating current to direct current or vice versa.Compare inverter, synchronous converter.
  3. Metallurgy. a chamber or vessel through which an oxidizing blast of air is forced, as in making steel by the Bessemer process.
  4. Television. decoder(def 5).
  5. Radio and Television. an auxiliary device that permits a receiver to pick up frequencies or channels for which it was not originally designed.
  6. Physics. a reactor for converting one kind of fuel into another kind.
  7. a person who is engaged in converting textile fabrics, especially cotton cloths, from the raw state into the finished product ready for the market by bleaching, dyeing, etc.
  8. Also called converter lens. Photography. an additional lens attached to a lens in use on a camera to alter focal length, mounted in front of a lens to produce a wide-angle effect (wide-angle converter) or between the lens and the camera body to produce a telephoto effect (teleconverter or extender).
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Origin of converter

First recorded in 1525–35; convert1 + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for converter

Historical Examples

  • According to the police, the first Converter had been stolen on Friday night.

    Damned If You Don't

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • Exactly what do you intend to do with the Converter if I sell it to you?

    Damned If You Don't

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • Finally, they had taken the decisive step of stealing the Converter.

    Damned If You Don't

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • Bending himself had cut them a week before to install the Converter.

    Damned If You Don't

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • His grin was running as high an energy output as that he claimed for the Converter.

    Damned If You Don't

    Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for converter

converter

convertor

noun
  1. a person or thing that converts
  2. physics
    1. a device for converting alternating current to direct current or vice versa
    2. a device for converting a signal from one frequency to another or from analogue to digital forms
  3. a vessel in which molten metal is refined, using a blast of air or oxygenSee also Bessemer converter, L-D converter
  4. short for converter reactor
  5. computing a device for converting one form of coded information to another, such as an analogue-to-digital converter
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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

Word Origin and History for converter

n.

1530s, agent noun from convert (v.). Of machinery, from 1867.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
converter in Science

converter

[kən-vûr′tər]
  1. An electrical device that changes the form of an electric signal or power source, as by converting alternating current to direct current, or an analog signal to a digital signal. Compare rectifier transformer.
  2. An electronic device that changes the frequency of a radio or other electromagnetic signal.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.