generator

[ jen-uh-rey-ter ]

/ ˈdʒɛn əˌreɪ tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR generator ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a machine that converts one form of energy into another, especially mechanical energy into electrical energy, as a dynamo, or electrical energy into sound, as an acoustic generator.

a person or thing that generates.

Chemistry. an apparatus for producing a gas or vapor.

Mathematics.

an element or one of a set of elements from which a specified mathematical object can be formed by applying certain operations.
an element, as a line, that generates a figure.

Computers. a program that produces a particular type of output on demand, as random numbers, an application program, or a report.

Nearby words

generative grammar, generative phonology, generative semantics, generative-transformational grammar, generativist, generator, generatrix, generic, generic name, generosity, generous

Origin of generator

1640–50; < Latin generātor producer, equivalent to generā(re) (see generate) + -tor -tor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for generator

“Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, sometimes five minutes, for the generator to restart and the power to come back on,” he told me.
Power Shortages Hit Gaza Maternity Ward|Jesse Rosenfeld|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Running on power from a generator, it is constantly mortared and is a frequent target of airstrikes.
Syria’s Government Targets Hospitals|Emma Beals|October 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
So, months after it was handed over in a triumphant ribbon-cutting ceremony, the generator was broken.
We Abandoned Them: Kirk Johnson’s Fight to Save Iraqis|John Kael Weston|September 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Last year Tom Sachs brought a generator to "dig a hole to China."
The 2013 Artist Sand Castle Competition Hosted by Creative Time (PHOTOS)|Isabel Wilkinson|August 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Like most of the business owners in Damascus, Fady depends on a generator.
Under Siege, Damascus Gets Desperate for Food and Fuel|Mikel Ayestaran|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Having taken a candle from a drawer she lighted it, lifted a trap door and descended to the generator.
The Cruise of the O Moo|Roy J. Snell
The guns were melted down, together with other items p. 90 of iron and steel, to make the castings for the generator.
Space Prison|Tom Godwin
The generator hummed, the needles of the dials climbed, flickered, and steadied.
Space Prison|Tom Godwin
In it water is supplied from the tank of a bell gasholder to a drawer type of generator placed in the base of the gasholder tank.
Acetylene, The Principles Of Its Generation And Use|F. H. Leeds
The coils E are included in the circuit of a generator F, by means of which the field-magnet is energized.
The inventions, researches and writings of Nikola Tesla|Thomas Commerford Martin

British Dictionary definitions for generator

generator

/ (ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtə) /

noun

physics

any device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction, esp a large one as in a power station
a device for producing a voltage electrostatically
any device that converts one form of energy into another forman acoustic generator

an apparatus for producing a gas

a person or thing that generates

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

Medicine definitions for generator

generator

[ jĕn′ə-rā′tər ]

n.

One that generates, especially a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Science definitions for generator

generator

[ jĕn′ə-rā′tər ]

A machine that converts mechanical energy into electricity to serve as a power source for other machines. Electrical generators found in power plants use water turbines, combustion engines, windmills, or other sources of mechanical energy to spin wire coils in strong magnetic fields, inducing an electric potential in the coils. A generator that provides alternating current power is called an alternator. See also induction.

See generatrix.

Culture definitions for generator

generator

A device that produces electric current (see also current), usually by rotating a conductor in a magnetic field, thereby generating current through electromagnetic induction. This sort of generator produces an alternating current (AC).