receiver

[ ri-see-ver ]
See synonyms for receiver on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that receives.

  2. a device or apparatus that receives electrical signals, waves, or the like, and renders them perceptible to the senses, as the part of a telephone held to the ear, a radio receiving set, or a television receiving set.

  1. Law. a person appointed by a court to manage the affairs of a bankrupt business or person or to care for property in litigation.

  2. Commerce. a person appointed to receive money due.

  3. a person who knowingly receives stolen goods for an illegal purpose; a dealer in stolen merchandise.

  4. a device or apparatus for receiving or holding something; receptacle; container.

  5. (in a firearm) the basic metal unit housing the action and to which the barrel and other components are attached.

  6. Chemistry. a vessel for collecting and containing a distillate.

  7. Football. a player on the offensive team who catches, is eligible to catch, or is noted for the ability to catch a forward pass: Jones was the receiver of the first pass thrown. He sent all his receivers downfield.

  8. Baseball. the catcher.

Origin of receiver

1
1300–50; 1875–80 for def. 2; receive + -er1; replacing Middle English recevour<Anglo-French receivour, recevour (<Old French recevere)

Other words from receiver

  • pre·re·ceiv·er, noun
  • un·der·re·ceiv·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for receiver

receiver

/ (rɪˈsiːvə) /


noun
  1. a person who receives something; recipient

  2. a person appointed by a court to manage property pending the outcome of litigation, during the infancy of the owner, or after the owner(s) has been declared bankrupt or of unsound mind

  1. mainly British a person who receives stolen goods knowing that they have been stolen

  2. the equipment in a telephone, radio, or television that receives incoming electrical signals or modulated radio waves and converts them into the original audio or video signals

  3. the part of a telephone containing the earpiece and mouthpiece that is held by the telephone user

  4. the equipment in a radar system, radio telescope, etc, that converts incoming radio signals into a useful form, usually displayed on the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope

  5. an obsolete word for receptacle

  6. chem a vessel in which the distillate is collected during distillation

  7. US sport a player whose function is to receive the ball, esp a footballer who catches long passes

  8. the metallic frame situated behind the breech of a gun to guide the round into the chamber

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

Scientific definitions for receiver

receiver

[ rĭ-sēvər ]


  1. A device, as in a radio or telephone, that converts incoming radio, microwave, or electrical signals to a form, such as sound or light, that can be perceived by humans. Compare transmitter.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.