toast⋅er
1
[toh-ster] 
stər
| 1. | an instrument or appliance for toasting bread, muffins, etc. |
| 2. | a person who toasts something. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| toast·er (tō'stər) n. A mechanical device used to toast bread, especially by exposure to electrically heated wire coils. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Toaster
Toast"er\, n. 1. One who toasts. 2. A kitchen utensil for toasting bread, cheese, etc.Cite This Source
toaster
n.1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). "DWIM for an assembler? That'd be as silly as running Unix on your toaster (http://www.phys.uu.nl/~beljaars/reddwarf/script/4/4.whi)!"
2. A very, very dumb computer. "You could run this program on any dumb toaster." See bitty box, Get a real computer!, toy, beige toaster.
3. A Macintosh, esp. the Classic Mac. Some hold that this is implied by sense
2.
4. A peripheral device. "I bought my box without toasters, but since then I've added two boards and a second disk drive."
5. A specialized computer used as an appliance. See web toaster, video toaster.
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toaster jargon
1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). "DWIM for an assembler? That'd be as silly as running Unix on your toaster!"
2. A very, very dumb computer. "You could run this program on any dumb toaster."
See bitty box, Get a real computer!, toy, beige toaster.
3. A Macintosh, especially the Classic Mac. Some hold that this is implied by sense 2.
4. A peripheral device. "I bought my box without toasters, but since then I've added two boards and a second disk drive".
This is not usually to be taken literally but, to show off the expansion capabilities of the Risc PC, Acorn Computers Ltd. built a seven-slice machine (which they called "the rocket-ship") and installed every imaginable peripheral. In a spare drive bay of the top slice they installed a toaster. This machine was exhibited at various shows where it attracted attention by occasionally ejecting a pizza.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-07-18)
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