transistor
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.
Informal. a transistorized radio.
Informal. transistorized: a transistor radio.
Origin of transistor
1Words Nearby transistor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use transistor in a sentence
Swan took over a troubled giant, as Intel was struggling to perfect new technology to squeeze more transistors onto each processing chip.
There are a lot of options to go through, but the effort to find the best computer speakers will be worth it when you’re upgrading from sound that’s transistor-radio quality to audio that can fill your entire home.
Best computer speakers: Make music, video chats, and more a whole lot clearer | Jeremy Helligar | January 12, 2021 | Popular-SciencePutting more transistors on a chip may increase the computing power but also draws more power and complicates the design in other ways.
Former Intel and Apple design star Jim Keller joins A.I. chip startup | Aaron Pressman | January 6, 2021 | FortuneDigital computers harness the power of hundreds of millions if not billions of transistors that are each fundamentally a simple on-off switch.
Memristor-based neuromorphic chips, for example, mimic the brain by putting processing and memory into individual transistor-like components.
The Trillion-Transistor Chip That Just Left a Supercomputer in the Dust | Jason Dorrier | November 22, 2020 | Singularity Hub
People had been carrying around music for several years – transistor radios, the Walkman, etc.
Electronically, that machine is the equivalent of an early transistor radio.
Your iPod (Most Likely) Won’t Bring Down the Plane | Clive Irving | October 31, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAt the Namegabe home, the transistor radio, charged with batteries, was the property of the men.
The electrical properties of this odd specimen are unusual and interesting and could lead to a new type of transistor.
The Atomic Fingerprint | Bernard KeischThere was a miniature pocket radio—a transistor radio—on top of the short wave cabinet.
Operation Terror | William Fitzgerald JenkinsThe PDP-3 circuitry is the static type using saturating transistor flip-flops and, for the most part, transistor switch elements.
Preliminary Specifications: Programmed Data Processor Model Three (PDP-3) | Digital Equipment CorporationYou mean them tiny transistor things that feelie actors have stuck in their heads?
The Premiere | Richard SabiaIt was a tiny transistor, an integral part of modern electronic apparatus.
The Scarlet Lake Mystery | Harold Leland Goodwin
British Dictionary definitions for transistor
/ (trænˈzɪstə) /
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
informal a transistor radio
Origin of transistor
1Collins 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 transistor
[ trăn-zĭs′tər ]
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. See also logic circuit logic gate.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for transistor
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.
Notes for transistor
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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