resonator

American  

[rez-uh-ney-ter] / ˈrɛz əˌneɪ tər /

noun

1. anything that resonates.

2. an appliance for increasing sound by resonance.

3. an instrument for detecting the presence of a particular frequency by means of resonance.

4. Electronics.

   1. a hollow enclosure cavity resonator made of conducting material of such dimensions that electromagnetic radiation of a certain frequency will resonate.

   2. any circuit having this frequency characteristic.

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resonator British  

/ ˈrɛzəˌneɪtə /

noun

1. any body or system that displays resonance, esp a tuned electrical circuit or a conducting cavity in which microwaves are generated by a resonant current

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Etymology

Origin of resonator

First recorded in 1865–70; resonate + -or ²

Example Sentences

The brittle, acoustically reflective shell combines with its curved, hollow shape to act as a Helmholtz resonator, rendering ambient background noise into the sound of the surf.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Weaving around the many period-rich diegetic songs, he took a 1932 Dobro resonator guitar — the same one that Caton’s character, Sammy, plays in the film — and channeled his father’s blues-loving DNA.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2025

Others had done similar things, Rybka notes, but earlier efforts made the higher mode resonator ring strongly at one frequency or made it tunable, not both.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 20, 2024

The ideal resonator would store light for a long time in a region at the size of a single atom.

From Science Daily • Dec. 6, 2023

She couldn’t remember what he’d said, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tialys quickly preparing the lodestone resonator, busy.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman