transceiver
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of transceiver
First recorded in 1935–40; trans(mitter) + (re)ceiver
Explanation
A transceiver is a device that both transmits and receives signals within a single unit. Transceivers are core components in things like radios, cell phones, and Wi-Fi routers, which simultaneously send and pull in data. Traditionally, communication required two separate machines: a transmitter to send data, and a receiver to catch it. A transceiver combines these two functions into one piece of equipment, with shared internal circuitry to handle both functions. While best known for use in radios, walkie-talkies, and mobile phones, transceivers are also used in things like fiber-optic cables, which send and receive pulses of light. By performing both tasks, a transceiver turns a one-way broadcast into a two-way conversation.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shares of the optical transceiver maker declined 5.9% from their listing price to 922.00 Hong Kong dollars early Thursday, even after the Chinese company set the final offer price below the maximum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
The shift to AI data centers is driving an expansion of the total addressable market for optical components “well beyond Coherent’s incumbency in the traditional pluggable transceiver market,” he wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 11, 2026
“Our industry checks…suggest that port counts / transceiver demand could double in 2026 and 2027,” O’Malley wrote.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
Several, he says, didn't have safety kits, such as a transceiver to reveal their location or a shovel.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
She imagines the radio equipment high above her: microphone, transceiver, all those dials and switches and cables.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
