operator

[op-uh-rey-ter]

noun

1. a person who operates a machine, apparatus, or the like.

   a telegraph operator.

2. a person who operates a telephone switchboard, especially for a telephone company.

3. a person who manages a working or industrial establishment, enterprise, or system.

   the operators of a mine.

4. a person who trades in securities, especially speculatively or on a large scale.

5. a person who performs a surgical operation; a surgeon.

6. Mathematics.

   1. a symbol for expressing a mathematical operation.

   2. a function, especially one transforming a function, set, etc., into another.

      a differential operator.

7. Informal.

   1. a person who accomplishes goals or purposes by devious means; faker; fraud.

   2. a person who is adroit at overcoming, avoiding, or evading difficulties, regulations, or restrictions.

   3. a person who is extremely successful with or smoothly persuasive to potential sexual or romantic partners.

8. Genetics.,  a segment of DNA that interacts with a regulatory molecule, preventing transcription of the adjacent region.

operator

/ ˈɒpəˌreɪtə /

noun

1. a person who operates a machine, instrument, etc, esp, a person who makes connections on a telephone switchboard or at an exchange

2. a person who owns or operates an industrial or commercial establishment

3. a speculator, esp one who operates on currency or stock markets

4. informal,  a person who manipulates affairs and other people

5. maths any symbol, term, letter, etc, used to indicate or express a specific operation or process, such as Δ (the differential operator)

operator

1. Mathematics,  A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector. In quantum mechanics, measurable quantities of a physical system, such as position and momentum, are related to unique operators applied to the wave equation describing the system.

2. A logical operator.

3. Genetics,  A segment of chromosomal DNA that regulates the activity of the structural genes of an operon by interacting with a specific repressor.

Other Word Forms

• preoperator noun
• self-operator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of operator¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Late Latin, equivalent to operā(rī) “to work, effect” ( operate ) + Latin -tor noun suffix ( -tor )

Example Sentences

The head of Lisbon's municipal transport operator and its entire board resigned Wednesday, two days after an inquiry pointed to a faulty cable in a deadly funicular crash last month.

Read more on Barron's

Casino operators and Native American tribes have raised concerns that prediction markets’ foray into sports threatens their revenues.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Oil giant Phillips 66, operator of a massive oil refinery near the Port of Los Angeles, has unveiled plans to replace its belching smokestacks and hulking steel tanks with stores, restaurants and soccer fields.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The cross-Channel rail operator has confirmed it will order up to 50 trains from manufacturer Alstom, eventually increasing the size of its fleet by nearly a third.

Read more on BBC

Britain's rail regulator earlier this year ruled that Eurostar's London maintenance depot, Temple Mills, could be made available to other operators.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• agent 
• broker 
• dealer 
• driver 
• manager