operator

American  

[op-uh-rey-ter] / ˈɒp əˌreɪ tər /

noun

• operators
  plural

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.

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operator British  

/ 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)

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operator Scientific  

/ ŏp′ə-rā′tər /

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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preoperator
  noun
• self-operator
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• operators
  plural

Etymology

Origin of operator

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

Explanation

An operator is a person who runs a machine, equipment, or a vehicle. If you want to be a jackhammer operator some day, you might hope to work on a road crew of for a construction company. An operator operates, or controls, something. You could be a radio operator, a heavy machinery operator, or even a telephone operator — or you can be the operator, or manager, of a business. If you start your own dog walking company, you can call yourself an "owner-operator." The Latin root of both operator and operate is operari, "to work," and "to cause."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

operator operators

Vantage Data Centers, a giant hyperscaler developer and operator backed by Silver Lake and DigitalBridge Group, is thinking about a 2027 offering, people familiar with the matter say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Koval was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, and her father is a drone operator fighting against Russia’s four-year invasion of the country.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

“In a market where almost every scaled operator is sold out, Meta is a very rare potential merchant seller of surplus capacity,” Mahaney wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

By early Tuesday, 7,250 household across the Languedoc-Roussillon region were without power including 1,600 in Aude, said grid operator Enedis.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

To the operator, he said, “I need the number for an Angela or A. DuPre on Stonehenge—DuPre—D-U-P-R-E.”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Evercore analysts said the move will also allow SpaceX to put data centers into orbit, potentially dodging the growing backlash in the U.S. against artificial-intelligence cloud operators.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Though the drone was programmed to travel to a particular gas station by human operators, its final target mostly likely was selected by the weapon’s own internal system.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

For wildlife tourism operators, cutting out diesel isn’t just a way to lower emissions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Concerned tourism operators in some US border states are rolling out the red carpet with discounts for Canadians.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

If Miss Genovese disciplines me in front of him, she will lose the impression that she has total control over all the operators under her purview.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• agent
• broker
• dealer
• driver
• manager