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router1

[rou-ter]
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noun
  1. any of various tools or machines for routing, hollowing out, or furrowing.
  2. Also called router plane. Carpentry. a plane for cutting interior angles, as at the bottom of a groove.
  3. a machine or tool for cutting into or below a main surface, as of a die or engraving plate.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to cut with a router.
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Origin of router1

First recorded in 1840–50; rout2 + -er1

router2

[roo-ter, rou-]
noun
  1. a person or thing that routes.
  2. a piece of hardware or software having a specific IP address and connected to network nodes for the transfer of data between computers.
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Origin of router2

First recorded in 1900–05; route + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for router

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • This can be done with socket chisel and mallet, or with a router.

    Carpentry and Woodwork

    Edwin W. Foster

  • To a fellow I saw up there—Mr. 'Router', I think he said was his name.

    The Burial of the Guns

    Thomas Nelson Page

  • In addition to the above tools, carvers occasionally use one called a "Router."

    Wood-Carving

    George Jack

  • A router, for cleaning out and smoothing the bottoms of grooves and depressions, is very useful at times.

    Woodworking for Beginners

    Charles Gardner Wheeler

  • Router and Brown Willy stood like grim sentinels watching over the scene.

    The Day of Judgment

    Joseph Hocking

British Dictionary definitions for router

router1

noun
  1. any of various tools or machines for hollowing out, cutting grooves, etc
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router2

noun
  1. computing a device that allows packets of data to be moved efficiently between two points on a network
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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 router

n.

"cutter that removes wood from a groove," 1818, from rout "poke about, rummage" (1540s), originally of swine digging with the snout; a variant of root (v.1).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
router in Science

router

[rou′tər]
  1. A device in a network that handles message transfers between computers. A router receives information and forwards it based on what the router determines to be the most efficient route at the time of transfer.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.