dispatcher

American  

[dih-spach-er] / dɪˈspætʃ ər /

noun

• dispatchers
  plural

1. a person who dispatches.

2. a person who oversees the departure of trains, airplanes, buses, etc., as for a transportation company or railroad.

3. Slang. dispatchers, a fraudulently made pair of dice; loaded dice.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• predispatcher
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dispatchers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dispatcher

First recorded in 1540–50; dispatch + -er ¹

Explanation

A dispatcher is someone whose work involves receiving messages and organizing the movement of ambulances and other vehicles. Being a dispatcher requires excellent communication skills in a high-pressure environment. An emergency dispatcher's work day might include getting phone calls from people who need medical assistance or the help of firefighters. A taxi dispatcher, on the other hand, communicates with each cab driver about where to pick up passengers who've called for rides. To dispatch is to send something off quickly, and for most dispatchers, their job is dispatching vehicles.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dispatcher dispatchers

The dispatcher later said "the aircraft has lost radio and radar".

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Her father, Drahos, worked as a train dispatcher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

The dispatcher could hear a lot of noise, but nothing else.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

According to the EMS dispatch audio from June 14, emergency responders were called to McConnell’s Washington, D.C., residence for an “unconscious” person, with one dispatcher stating there was “CPR in progress” for a “cardiac arrest.”

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

I left a little late, at half past twelve, with Emmanuel, who works as a dispatcher.

From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus

When Byrne spoke to the dispatchers, they told him they were accustomed to finding that house by using another cross street and a different direction of travel as a reference.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

One such company is Aurelian, which sells software that coaches 911 dispatchers and automates nonemergency calls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

The one year pay deal covers Menzies dispatchers, allocators, airside agents, and controllers.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

The dispatchers continued to tell him to just hang in there and wait.

From Slate ● May 13, 2026

It was an odd and familiar sound—Joe Castiglione’s voice and the crack of the bat, layered with occasional farty blips and cryptic messages between cops and dispatchers.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Related Words

• courier
• emissary
• go-between
• mediator
• prophet