Monitor definition |Dictionary.com

Related Searches

on Ask.com

computer monitor

troubleshooting monitor problems

savannah monitor lizard

nile monitor lizard

civil war monitor

pet monitor lizards

computer monitor reviews

Browse Nearby Entries

monitor

Sponsored Links Dell Computer Monitors
Shop Dell Monitors & Flat Screens. Find CRTs, LCDs & Dell UltraSharp.
www.Dell.com

What Type of PC Are You?
Tell Us Your Story. Post a Picture. See Yourself in the Ads.
ImAPC.LifeWithoutWalls.com

Lcd
Find the Top TV Brands at Walmart Save on Sony TVs & More Today!
Walmart.com

9 dictionary results for: Monitor

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·i·tor

[mon-i-ter] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a student appointed to assist in the conduct of a class or school, as to help take attendance or keep order.

2.	a person appointed to supervise students, applicants, etc., taking an examination, chiefly to prevent cheating; proctor.

3.	a person who admonishes, esp. with reference to conduct.

4.	something that serves to remind or give warning.

5.	a device or arrangement for observing, detecting, or recording the operation of a machine or system, esp. an automatic control system.

6.	an instrument for detecting dangerous gases, radiation, etc.

Radio and Television.

a.	a receiving apparatus used in a control room, esp. to provide a steady check of the quality of an audio or video transmission.

b.	a similar apparatus placed in various parts of a studio so that an audience can watch a recorded portion of a show, the performer can see the various segments of a program, etc.

c.	any such receiving apparatus used in a closed-circuit system, as in an operating room.

Computers.

a.	a component, as a CRT, with a screen for viewing data at a computer terminal.

b.	a control program. Compare operating system.

c.	a group of systems used to measure the performance of a computer system.

Nautical.

a.	a former U.S. steam-propelled, armored warship of very low freeboard, having one or more turrets and used for coastal defense.

b.	(initial capital letter, italics) the first of such warships, used against the Confederate ironclad warship Merrimac at Hampton Roads, Va., in 1862.

10.	a raised construction straddling the ridge of a roof and having windows or louvers for lighting or ventilating a building, as a factory or warehouse.

11.	an articulated mounting for a nozzle, usually mechanically operated, which permits a stream of water to be played in any desired direction, as in firefighting or hydraulic mining.

12.	Also called giant. (in hydraulic mining) a nozzle for dislodging and breaking up placer deposits with a jet of water.

13.	any of various large lizards of the family Varanidae, of Africa, southern Asia, the East Indies, and Australia, fabled to give warning of the presence of crocodiles: several species are endangered.

–verb (used with object)

14.

Radio and Television.

a.	to listen to (transmitted signals) on a receiving set in order to check the quality of the transmission.

b.	to view or listen to (television or radio transmissions) in order to check the quality of the video or audio.

c.	to listen to (a radio conversation or channel); keep tuned to.

15.	to observe, record, or detect (an operation or condition) with instruments that have no effect upon the operation or condition.

16.	to oversee, supervise, or regulate: to monitor the administering of a test.

17.	to watch closely for purposes of control, surveillance, etc.; keep track of; check continually: to monitor one's eating habits.

–verb (used without object)

18.	to serve as a monitor, detector, supervisor, etc.

[Origin: 1540–50; < L: prompter, adviser, equiv. to moni-, var. s. of monére to remind, advise, warn + -tor -tor

]

—Related forms

mon·i·tor·ship, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Sponsored Links Dell Computer Monitors
Shop Dell Monitors & Flat Screens. Find CRTs, LCDs & Dell UltraSharp.
www.Dell.com

What Type of PC Are You?
Tell Us Your Story. Post a Picture. See Yourself in the Ads.
ImAPC.LifeWithoutWalls.com

Lcd
Find the Top TV Brands at Walmart Save on Sony TVs & More Today!
Walmart.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

mon·i·tor (mŏn'ĭ-tər) Pronunciation Key
n.

One that admonishes, cautions, or reminds, especially with respect to matters of conduct.
A pupil who assists a teacher in routine duties.
1. A usually electronic device used to record, regulate, or control a process or system.
2. A receiver, such as a screen or speaker, that is used to check the quality or content of an electronic transmission: followed the broadcast on the television monitor.
3. Computer Science A device that accepts video signals from a computer and displays information on a screen; a video display.
4. A heavily ironclad warship of the 19th century with a low, flat deck and one or more gun turrets.
5. A modern warship designed for coastal bombardment.
Computer Science A program that observes, supervises, or controls the activities of other programs.
An articulated device holding a rotating nozzle with which a jet of water is regulated, used in mining and firefighting.
1. A heavily ironclad warship of the 19th century with a low, flat deck and one or more gun turrets.
2. A modern warship designed for coastal bombardment.
Biology Any of various tropical carnivorous lizards of the family Varanidae, living in the East Indies, southern Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Guinea and ranging in length from several centimeters to 3 meters (10 feet).

v. mon·i·tored, mon·i·tor·ing, mon·i·tors

v. tr.

To check the quality or content of (an electronic audio or visual signal) by means of a receiver.
To check by means of an electronic receiver for significant content, such as military, political, or illegal activity: monitor a suspected criminal's phone conversations.
To keep track of systematically with a view to collecting information: monitor the bear population of a national park; monitored the political views of the people.
To test or sample, especially on a regular or ongoing basis: monitored the city's drinking water for impurities.
To keep close watch over; supervise: monitor an examination.
To direct.

v. intr.
To act as a monitor.

[Latin, from monēre, to warn; see men-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

mon'i·tor·ship' n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
monitor

1546, "senior pupil at a school charged with keeping order, etc.," from L. monitor "one who reminds, admonishes, or checks," from monere "to admonish, warn, advise," related to memini "I remember, I am mindful of," and to mens "mind," from PIE base *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)). The lizard so called because it is supposed to give warning of crocodiles (1826). Meaning "squat, slow-moving type of ironclad warship" (1862) so called from name of the first vessel of this design, chosen by Capt. Ericsson because it was meant to "admonish" the Confederate leaders in the U.S. Civil War. Broadcasting sense of "a device to continuously check on the technical quality of a transmission" (1931) led to special sense of "a TV screen displaying the picture from a particular camera." The verb is attested from 1924.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

monitor
noun
1.	someone who supervises (an examination) [syn: proctor]
2.	someone who gives a warning so that a mistake can be avoided [syn: admonisher]
3.	an ironclad vessel built by Federal forces to do battle with the Merrimac
4.	display produced by a device that takes signals and displays them on a television screen or a computer monitor
5.	electronic equipment that is used to check the quality or content of electronic transmissions
6.	a piece of electronic equipment that keeps track of the operation of a system continuously and warns of trouble
7.	any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia; fabled to warn of crocodiles
verb
1.	keep tabs on; keep an eye on; keep under surveillance; "we are monitoring the air quality"; "the police monitor the suspect's moves"
2.	check, track, or observe by means of a receiver

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

monitor (mŏn'ĭ-tər) Pronunciation Key

A device that accepts video signals from a computer and displays information on a screen. Monitors generally employ cathode-ray tubes or flat-panel displays to project the image. See Note at pixel.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

monitor mon·i·tor (mŏn'ĭ-tər)
n.
A usually electronic device used to record, regulate, or control a process or system. v. mon·i·tored, mon·i·tor·ing, mon·i·tors

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

monitor
1. A cathode-ray tube and associated electronics connected to a computer's video output. A monitor may be either monochrome (black and white) or colour (RGB). Colour monitors may show either digital colour (each of the red, green and blue signals may be either on or off, giving eight possible colours: black, white, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow) or analog colour (red, green and blue signals are continuously variable allowing any combination to be displayed). Digital monitors are sometimes known as TTL because the voltages on the red, green and blue inputs are compatible with TTL logic chips.
See also gamut, multisync, visual display unit.
2. A programming language construct which encapsulates variables, access procedures and initialisation code within an abstract data type. The monitor's variable may only be accessed via its access procedures and only one process may be actively accessing the monitor at any one time. The access procedures are critical sections. A monitor may have a queue of processes which are waiting to access it.
3. A hardware device that measures electrical events such as pulses or voltage levels in a digital computer.
4. To oversee a program during execution. For example, the monitor function in the Unix C library enables profiling of a certain range of code addresses. A histogram is produced showing how often the program counter was found to be at each position and how often each profiled function was called.
Unix man page: monitor(3).
5. A control program within the operating system that manages the allocation of system resources to active programs.
6. A program that measures software performance.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Monitor

Mon"i*tor\, n. [L., fr. monere. See Monition, and cf. Mentor.]

1. One who admonishes; one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction by way of reproof or caution.

You need not be a monitor to the king. --Bacon.

2. Hence, specifically, a pupil selected to look to the school in the absence of the instructor, to notice the absence or faults of the scholars, or to instruct a division or class.

3. (Zo["o]l.) Any large Old World lizard of the genus Varanus; esp., the Egyptian species (V. Niloticus), which is useful because it devours the eggs and young of the crocodile. It is sometimes five or six feet long.

4. [So called from the name given by Captain Ericson, its designer, to the first ship of the kind.] An ironclad war vessel, very low in the water, and having one or more heavily-armored revolving turrets, carrying heavy guns.

5. (Mach.) A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring successively the several tools in holds into proper position for cutting.

Monitor top, the raised central portion, or clearstory, of a car roof, having low windows along its sides.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Monitor

Mon"i*tor\, n. A monitor nozzle.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT