calculator
Americannoun
-
a person who calculates or computes.
-
Also called calculating machine. a small electronic or mechanical device that performs calculations, requiring manual action for each individual operation.
-
a person who operates such a machine.
-
a set of tables that facilitates calculation.
noun
-
a device for performing mathematical calculations, esp an electronic device that can be held in the hand
-
a person or thing that calculates
-
a set of tables used as an aid to calculations
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of calculator
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin; see calculate, -tor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Researchers expect the calculator to be used alongside cardiovascular risk assessment tools such as QRISK.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026
Patent No. 3,819,921 for their hand-held aluminum calculator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Instead, Lodge, who goes by Cabot, picked up an HP-12C financial calculator and never looked back, perhaps with an eye to resurrecting the family’s business bona fides.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
This calculator doesn’t require you to enter any personal information.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
She could break it all down in her head in a way that would've taken Bit and John John a calculator to do, and Trista probably two pages of long division.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Electronic calculators, for instance, may have helped users solve equations -- but left the method and reasoning process in human hands.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
You can use any number of future-value calculators to experiment with different assumptions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026
The advocates were generally happy with what they heard, while also pulling out calculators to assess whether Newsom owes still more to education.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Lucy is also campaigning for children with dyscalculia to be allowed to use calculators and their personal notes or work books, something she described as Ava's "maths bible," in SATs tests and GCSEs.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
"Pocket calculators are not allowed in this school anyway."
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
