receiver

[ri-see-ver]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR receiver ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that receives.

a device or apparatus that receives electrical signals, waves, or the like, and renders them perceptible to the senses, as the part of a telephone held to the ear, a radio receiving set, or a television receiving set.

Law. a person appointed by a court to manage the affairs of a bankrupt business or person or to care for property in litigation.

Commerce. a person appointed to receive money due.

a person who knowingly receives stolen goods for an illegal purpose; a dealer in stolen merchandise.

a device or apparatus for receiving or holding something; receptacle; container.

(in a firearm) the basic metal unit housing the action and to which the barrel and other components are attached.

Chemistry. a vessel for collecting and containing a distillate.

Football. a player on the offensive team who catches, is eligible to catch, or is noted for the ability to catch a forward pass: Jones was the receiver of the first pass thrown. He sent all his receivers downfield.

Baseball. the catcher.

Origin of receiver

1300–50; 1875–80 for def 2; receive + -er¹; replacing Middle English recevour < Anglo-French receivour, recevour (< Old French recevere)

Related formspre·re·ceiv·er, nounun·der·re·ceiv·er, noun

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

Related Words for receiver

customer, target, collector, heir, beneficiary, cashier, subject, recipient, trustee, creditor, consignee, grantee, acceptor, assignee, teller, television, telephone, radio, bug, handset

Examples from the Web for receiver

Contemporary Examples of receiver

After everything is in order and the call has been placed, Hitch picks up the receiver and says “How do you do?”
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
The receiver is the only part of the gun that can be legally controlled and must be serialized if 100 percent complete.
What Are We Protecting with Gun Laws?
Jessica Solce
November 13, 2014
The sender and receiver pay the driver a few hryvnia—the Ukrainian currency—on either end.
On the Bus: Ukraine’s Frontline Express Across the Battle Lines
Ted Phillips
September 8, 2014
“You are destroying the university,” he shouted into the receiver.
Rebels Rise Again Over Flag Banning
Robert Khayat
July 28, 2014
Brooks: [Snatching up the receiver as the phone rings] This is Mel Brooks.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview
Alex Belth
February 16, 2014

Historical Examples of receiver

He went to the desk where the telephone was, and took up the receiver.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
The impact of sounds on his ear from the receiver set him to attention.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
What would I not have given to have been the receiver of such a letter?
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827
Various
She stood there looking at the receiver as her hands came together.
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
The clumsy framework of the receiver was reduced to a neat and portable size.
Heroes of the Telegraph
J. Munro

British Dictionary definitions for receiver

receiver

noun

a person who receives something; recipient

a person appointed by a court to manage property pending the outcome of litigation, during the infancy of the owner, or after the owner(s) has been declared bankrupt or of unsound mind

mainly British a person who receives stolen goods knowing that they have been stolen

the equipment in a telephone, radio, or television that receives incoming electrical signals or modulated radio waves and converts them into the original audio or video signals

the part of a telephone containing the earpiece and mouthpiece that is held by the telephone user

the equipment in a radar system, radio telescope, etc, that converts incoming radio signals into a useful form, usually displayed on the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope

an obsolete word for receptacle

chem a vessel in which the distillate is collected during distillation

US sport a player whose function is to receive the ball, esp a footballer who catches long passes

the metallic frame situated behind the breech of a gun to guide the round into the chamber

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 receiver

mid-14c. (mid-13c. as a surname), agent noun from receive, or from Old French recevere (Modern French receveur), agent noun from recievere. As a telephone apparatus, from 1877; in reference to a radio unit, from 1891; in U.S. football sense, from 1897.

receiver in Science

receiver

[rĭ-sē′vər]

A device, as in a radio or telephone, that converts incoming radio, microwave, or electrical signals to a form, such as sound or light, that can be perceived by humans. Compare transmitter.