governor
[ guhv-er-ner, ‐uh-ner ]
/ ˈgʌv ər nər, ‐ə nər /
noun
the executive head of a state in the U.S.
a person charged with the direction or control of an institution, society, etc.: the governors of a bank; the governor of a prison.
Also called governor general. the representative of the crown, as in the Commonwealth of Nations.
a ruler or chief magistrate appointed to govern a province, town, fort, or the like.
Machinery. a device for maintaining uniform speed regardless of changes of load, as by regulating the supply of fuel or working fluid.
British Informal.
- one's father.
- one's employer.
- any man of superior rank or status.
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Origin of governor
pronunciation note for governor
In governor, the process of dissimilation—the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike or for one of them to disappear entirely—commonly results in the loss of the first [r] /r/ of [guhv-er-ner] /ˈgʌv ər nər/, producing the pronunciation [guhv-uh-ner] /ˈgʌv ə nər/. This pronunciation is heard even in regions where postvocalic [r] /r/ is not usually dropped. A further loss, of the medial unstressed vowel, results in [guhv-ner] /ˈgʌv nər/. All three pronunciations are standard. See colonel, February, library.
OTHER WORDS FROM governor
sub·gov·er·nor, nounun·der·gov·er·nor, nounWords nearby governor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for governor
British Dictionary definitions for governor
governor
/ (ˈɡʌvənə) /
noun
Other words from governor
Related adjective: gubernatorialCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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