transistor

American  

[tran-zis-ter] / trænˈzɪs tər /

noun

• transistors
  plural

1. Electronics. a semiconductor device that amplifies, oscillates, or switches the flow of current between two terminals by varying the current or voltage between one of the terminals and a third: although much smaller in size than a vacuum tube, it performs similar functions without requiring current to heat a cathode.

2. Informal. a transistorized radio.

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adjective

1. Informal. transistorized.

   a transistor radio.

transistor British  

/ trænˈzɪstə /

noun

1. a semiconductor device, having three or more terminals attached to electrode regions, in which current flowing between two electrodes is controlled by a voltage or current applied to one or more specified electrodes. The device is capable of amplification, etc, and has replaced the valve in most circuits since it is much smaller, more robust, and works at a much lower voltage See also junction transistor field-effect transistor

2. informal a transistor radio

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transistor Scientific  

/ trăn-zĭs′tər /

1. An electronic device that controls the flow of an electric current, most often used as an amplifier or switch. Transistors usually consist of three layers of semiconductor material, in which the flow of electric current across the outer layer is regulated by the voltage or current applied at the middle layer. Having replaced the vacuum tube, transistors are the basis of much modern electronic technology, including the microprocessor.

2. See also logic circuit logic gate

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transistor Cultural  

1. An electronic device that can work as an amplifier, transforming weak electrical signals into strong ones. It is normally made from silicon or other semiconductors.

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Discover More

The transistor is the basic device used in miniaturized electronic systems, such as portable radios, or as a fast switch in computers.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• transistors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of transistor

First recorded in 1945–50; trans(fer) + (res)istor

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Explanation

Use the noun transistor to describe the small metal device that helps send and amplify signals in a radio. Your grandpa might carry a transistor radio around on game day. You may have heard of a transistor radio, or a portable radio that was produced in the 1950s after the development of transistors. These tiny devices made it possible for much smaller electronics to be made, like radios that people could carry in their hands. Transistors are still used in electronic products today. The word comes from the words transfer and resistor, because an electrical current in a transistor is transferred across a resistor, a two-terminal component of electronics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transistor transistors

I was a kid driving a tractor, listening to a transistor radio hanging from my umbrella, and I said, “That’s the guy I want to write songs for.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

We followed games on transistor radios and TV, and did our best to imitate star players.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Depending on whether OC 12 is present and whether the transistor has been activated, the bacterial cell produces an output molecule called OHC 14.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

By the 50s it was making tape recorders and transistor radios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Sitting in Paris and watching my American movies, I think of the man with the transistor radio and feel the exact opposite of homesick.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

A nanometer, or 1 billionth of a meter, refers to the size of a transistor, and the smaller the size, the greater the number of transistors that can be placed on a chip.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Making better chips for AI is increasingly about how they are laid out and stitched together—not just cramming together as many transistors as possible on a single piece of silicon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Their computations, which are in effect the switching on and off of microscopic silicon transistors that make up a chip, are actually silent.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

The researchers created two types of bacterial transistors and three additional bacterial strains that act as relays between them.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

Couples were drinking and whispering on the grass, and the transistors were turned down.

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

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