dispatcher

[dih-spach-er]

noun

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.

Other Word Forms

• predispatcher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispatcher¹

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

Example Sentences

It was not immediately clear what information was relayed to emergency dispatchers, but police are reviewing the incident as a possible “swatting” call, according to authorities.

From Los Angeles Times

The couple’s son tackled his father to wrestle the gun away, and performed CPR on his mother while being directed by emergency dispatchers, prosecutors said.

From Los Angeles Times

Phil Brooks, 34, of Speedway, Ind., an aircraft dispatcher, thinks that Cooper either was involved with an airline or did his homework very well.

From Los Angeles Times

The dispatch includes: 10 fire engines, two water tenders, two bulldozers, one helicopter, two hand crews, three dispatchers and one Incident Management Team.

From Los Angeles Times

The bookstore opened last year in an industrial part of the city so isolated that 911 dispatchers couldn’t find it when Barrios Gracián called about a medical emergency.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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