operator

American  

[op-uh-ray-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

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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)

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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

A camera operator built a custom housing that kept his hands warm at –40 degrees Celsius while he maintained enough dexterity to fly a drone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Chairwoman Dorothy Pritchard said the estate was delighted to welcome Leap as a potential launch operator.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

"By replacing electricity that would otherwise come from fossil fuel-fired power plants, this output avoids 185,936 tonnes of carbon emissions each year," operator Sanko Enerji says.

From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026

Revenue from the company’s digital real-estate-services segment, which includes the company’s stakes in REA Group and Realtor.com operator Move, increased 10% to $529 million, while segment earnings jumped 34% to $212 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

Bolstering his claims, no Ralston operator had a record of the call being patched through to the Fairfax operator.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

While SpaceX has the ability to launch its satellites to orbit with its Falcon and Starship rockets, other satellite-internet operators don’t have that luxury.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

Its new operators, Neil Biondich and Alex McCullough, are ramping up events to activate the myriad spaces inside the building, all five stories of forest-themed kitschy wonder.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has sought to help smaller charter operators standardize pilot training.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Bosses at Lime, Voi and Bolt all welcomed the proposals, adding that consistent standards being applied across the country would provide clarity and certainty for operators, riders and the general public.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

The process starts at midnight in Germany, when Enigma operators reset their machines.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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