reactor

[ ree-ak-ter ]

/ riˈæk tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reactor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that reacts or undergoes reaction.

Electricity. a device whose primary purpose is to introduce reactance into a circuit.

Immunology, Veterinary Medicine. a patient or animal that reacts positively towards a foreign material.

Also called atomic pile, chain reactor, chain-reacting pile, nuclear reactor, pile. Physics. an apparatus in which a nuclear-fission chain reaction can be initiated, sustained, and controlled, for generating heat or producing useful radiation.

Chemistry. (especially in industry) a large container, as a vat, for processes in which the substances involved undergo a chemical reaction.

RELATED WORDS

catalyst, activator

Nearby words

reactive hyperemia, reactive schizophrenia, reactive thrust, reactively, reactivity, reactor, reactor vessel, reactor, nuclear, read, read a lecture, read between the lines

Origin of reactor

1885–90; 1940–45 for def 4; react + -or²

Related formsnon·re·ac·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for reactor

In 1981, while the world condemned us, we sent our air force to destroy the Osirak reactor Saddam Hussein was building in Iraq.
Why You Should Blame Iran For The Gaza Conflict|Naftali Bennett|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Iran is suspected to have aided in the funding of that reactor.
Iran and North Korea: The Nuclear 'Axis of Resistance'|Josh Rogin, Eli Lake|January 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It prohibits the manufacture of new centrifuges and work on the Arak reactor.
Obama and the Munich Katrinas|Michael Tomasky|November 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The reactor has the potential to produce weapons grade plutonium.
A Very Israeli Linkage: Iran's Bomb and Peace With the Palestinians|Nadav Eyal|September 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The reactor has the potential to produce weapon grade plutonium.
A Very Israeli Linkage: Iran's Nuclear Bomb and Peace With Palestine|Nadav Eyal|September 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"I'll need it if you get that reactor of yours working," said the Martian.
Treachery in Outer Space|Carey Rockwell and Louis Glanzman
He had sewed up three of his points when we heard somebody moving around down on the reactor floor.
Goodbye, Dead Man!|Tom W. Harris
He squinted through his dark visor at the reactor building, a gray concrete structure a quarter of a mile distant.
All Day September|Roger Kuykendall
But, approaching the position for the third reactor unit, Connel searched in vain for some shade.
Danger in Deep Space|Carey Rockwell
Melroy left the reactor area and returned to the office in the converted area.
Day of the Moron|Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for reactor

reactor

/ (rɪˈæktə) /

noun

chem a substance, such as a reagent, that undergoes a reaction

short for nuclear reactor

a vessel, esp one in industrial use, in which a chemical reaction takes place

a coil of low resistance and high inductance that introduces reactance into a circuit

med a person sensitive to a particular drug or agent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reactor

reactor

"one that reacts," 1835, agent noun in Latin form from react. In nuclear sense, attested from 1945.