View synonyms for operator

operator

[ op-uh-rey-ter ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person who operates a machine, apparatus, or the like:
a telegraph operator.
a person who operates a telephone switchboard, especially for a telephone company.
a person who manages a working or industrial establishment, enterprise, or system:
the operators of a mine.
a person who trades in securities, especially speculatively or on a large scale.
a person who performs a surgical operation; a surgeon.
Mathematics.
1. a symbol for expressing a mathematical operation.
2. a function, especially one transforming a function, set, etc., into another:
  a differential operator.
Informal.
1. a person who accomplishes goals or purposes by devious means; faker; fraud.
2. a person who is adroit at overcoming, avoiding, or evading difficulties, regulations, or restrictions.
3. a person who is extremely successful with or smoothly persuasive to potential sexual or romantic partners.
Genetics. a segment of DNA that interacts with a regulatory molecule, preventing transcription of the adjacent region.

operator

/ ˈɒpəˌreɪtə /

a person who operates a machine, instrument, etc, esp, a person who makes connections on a telephone switchboard or at an exchange
a person who owns or operates an industrial or commercial establishment
a speculator, esp one who operates on currency or stock markets
informal.
a person who manipulates affairs and other people
maths any symbol, term, letter, etc, used to indicate or express a specific operation or process, such as Δ (the differential operator)

operator

/ ŏp′ə-rā′tər /

Mathematics.
A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector. In quantum mechanics, measurable quantities of a physical system, such as position and momentum, are related to unique operators applied to the wave equation describing the system.
A logical operator.
Genetics.
A segment of chromosomal DNA that regulates the activity of the structural genes of an operon by interacting with a specific repressor.

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First recorded in 1590–1600; from Late Latin, equivalent to operā(rī) “to work, effect” ( operate ) + Latin -tor noun suffix ( -tor )

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