suppressor

/ (səˈprɛsə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that suppresses

  2. a device fitted to an electrical appliance to suppress unwanted electrical interference to audiovisual signals

Words Nearby suppressor

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

How to use suppressor in a sentence

Scientific definitions for suppressor

suppressor

[ sə-prĕsər ]


  1. A mutant gene that suppresses the phenotypic expression of another usually mutant gene.

  2. A device, such as a resistor or grid, that is used in an electrical or electronic system to reduce unwanted currents.♦ A suppressor grid in a vacuum tube such as a pentode is designed to prevent the secondary emission of electrons from the plate. When electrons emitted by the tube's cathode strike the plate, their energies can be high enough to cause secondary emission of low-energy electrons from the plate, and these electrons can drift away into other positively charged electrodes in the tube (like the screen or the control grid), drawing current from the plate. A negatively charged suppressor grid near the plate repels these low-energy electrons and pushes them back toward the plate so that no current is lost, increasing the efficiency of the tube.

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