operator


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op·er·a·tor

 (ŏp′ə-rā′tər)
n.
1.
a. One who operates a machine or device: the operator of a forklift.
b. The owner or manager of a business.
c. A military person who executes a special operation.
d. Informal A person who is adept at accomplishing goals through shrewd or unscrupulous maneuvers.
2. Mathematics A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector.
3. A logical operator.
4. Genetics A chromosomal segment of DNA that regulates the activity of the structural genes of an operon by interacting with a specific repressor.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

operator

(ˈɒpəˌreɪtə)
n
1. a person who operates a machine, instrument, etc, esp, a person who makes connections on a telephone switchboard or at an exchange
2. a person who owns or operates an industrial or commercial establishment
3. (Stock Exchange) a speculator, esp one who operates on currency or stock markets
4. informal a person who manipulates affairs and other people
5. (Mathematics) maths any symbol, term, letter, etc, used to indicate or express a specific operation or process, such as Δ (the differential operator)
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

op•er•a•tor

(ˈɒp əˌreɪ tər)

n.
1. a person who operates a machine, apparatus, or the like.
2. a person who operates a telephone switchboard.
3. a person who manages an industrial establishment.
4. a person who trades in securities, esp. speculatively or on a large scale.
5. a person who performs a surgical operation; a surgeon.
6.
a. a symbol for expressing a mathematical or logical operation.
b. a function, esp. one transforming a function, set, etc., into another.
7. a person who accomplishes his or her purposes by cleverness.
8. a segment of DNA that interacts with a regulatory molecule, preventing transcription of the adjacent region.
[1590–1600; < Late Latin]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.operator - (mathematics) a symbol or function representing a mathematical operation
math, mathematics, maths - a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement
function, mapping, mathematical function, single-valued function, map - (mathematics) a mathematical relation such that each element of a given set (the domain of the function) is associated with an element of another set (the range of the function)
linear operator - an operator that obeys the distributive law: A(f+g) = Af + Ag (where f and g are functions)
identity element, identity operator, identity - an operator that leaves unchanged the element on which it operates; "the identity under numerical multiplication is 1"
2.operator - an agent that operates some apparatus or machineoperator - an agent that operates some apparatus or machine; "the operator of the switchboard"
causal agency, causal agent, cause - any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results
company operator - an operator who works for a company
driver - the operator of a motor vehicle
elevator operator - an operator of an elevator
engine driver, locomotive engineer, railroad engineer, engineer - the operator of a railway locomotive
hoister - an operator of a hoist
jockey - an operator of some vehicle or machine or apparatus; "he's a truck jockey"; "a computer jockey"; "a disc jockey"
motorman - the operator of streetcar
radio operator - someone who operates a radio transmitter
switchman - a man who operates railroad switches
telegraph operator, telegrapher, telegraphist - someone who transmits messages by telegraph
switchboard operator, telephone operator, telephonist - someone who helps callers get the person they are calling
3.operator - someone who owns or operates a business; "who is the operator of this franchise?"
businessman, man of affairs - a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive)
supermarketeer, supermarketer - an operator of a supermarket
4.operator - a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficultiesoperator - a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficulties
colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
opportunist, self-seeker - a person who places expediency above principle
wire-puller - one who uses secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings) for his own ends
5.operator - a speculator who trades aggressively on stock or commodity markets
plunger, speculator - someone who risks losses for the possibility of considerable gains
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

operator

noun
1. worker, hand, driver, mechanic, operative, conductor, technician, handler, skilled employee He first of all worked as a machine operator.
2. contractor, dealer, trader, administrator the country's largest cable TV operator
3. (Informal) manipulator, worker, mover, Machiavellian, mover and shaker, machinator, wheeler-dealer (informal), wirepuller one of the shrewdest political operators in the Arab world
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

operator

noun
1. A person who operates a motor vehicle:
2. One who speculates for quick profits:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
عاملعامِل الهاتِفمُشَغِّل الآلَه
operátor
operatør=-føreromstillingsdameoperator
keskuksenhoitajakeskusoperaattoritoimijavaihteenhoitaja
opérateuropérateur de télécommunicationtéléphoniste
operateroperator
telefonos
starfsmaîur á skiptiborîivélamaîurvirki
オペレーター
운전자
obsluhujúci pracovník
operatertelefonist
telefonist
พนักงานต่อโทรศัพท์
người điều khiển

operator

[ˈɒpəreɪtəʳ] N
1. [of machine etc] → operario/a m/f; (= machinist) → maquinista mf (Cine) → operador(a) m/f (Telec) → telefonista mf
2. (fig) a smooth operator (in business) → un tipo hábil; (in love) → un engatusador
he's a very clever operatores un tipo muy vivo
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

operator

[ˈɒpəreɪtər] n
[machine] → opérateur/trice m/f
opérateur/trice m/f
He dialled the operator → Il appela l'opératrice.
(= company) → opérateur m
the nation's largest cable TV operator → le plus grand opérateur de télévision câblée du pays
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

operator

n
(Telec) → ˜ Vermittlung f; a call through the operatorein handvermitteltes Gespräch
(of machinery)(Maschinen)arbeiter(in) m(f); (of vehicle, lift)Führer(in) m(f); (of electrical equipment)Bediener(in) m(f); (of computer etc)Operator(in) m(f); lathe etc operatorArbeiter(in) m(f)an der Drehbank etc
(= private company)Unternehmen nt; (= company owner)Unternehmer(in) m(f); (Fin) → (Börsen)makler(in) m(f); (= tour operator)Veranstalter(in) m(f)
(inf)raffinierter Typ m (inf); (= criminal)Gauner(in) m(f); to be a smooth/clever operatorraffiniert vorgehen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

operator

[ˈɒpəˌreɪtəʳ] n (of machine) → operatore/trice (Telec) → centralinista m/f
tour operator → operatore/trice turistico/a
a smooth operator (fam) → uno/a che ci sa fare
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

operate

(ˈopəreit) verb
1. to act or work. The sewing-machine isn't operating properly.
2. to do or perform a surgical operation. The surgeon operated on her for appendicitis.
ˌopeˈration noun
1. an action or process, especially when planned. a rescue operation.
2. the process of working. Our plan is now in operation.
3. the act of surgically cutting a part of the body in order to cure disease. an operation for appendicitis.
4. (often in plural) the movement, fighting etc of armies. The general was in command of operations in the north.
ˌopeˈrational adjective
in good working order.
ˈoperative (-rətiv) , ((American) -reitiv) adjective
in action, having effect. Many old laws are still operative.
ˈoperator noun
1. a person who works a machine. a lift operator.
2. a person who connects telephone calls. Ask the operator to connect you to that number.
ˈoperating room noun
(sometimes theatre) the room in a hospital in which operations are performed.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

operator

عامل operátor operatør Bediener χειριστής operador keskus opérateur operater operatore オペレーター 운전자 operator operatør operator operador оператор telefonist พนักงานต่อโทรศัพท์ operatör người điều khiển 操作员
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
Wash Williams, the telegraph operator of Wines- burg, was the ugliest thing in town.
As in decapitating the whale, the operator's instrument is brought close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the spermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest a careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly let out its invaluable contents.
A HEAVY Operator overtaken by a Reverse of Fortune was bewailing his sudden fall from affluence to indigence.
"Very good," I replied; and, as I dismissed him, I rang for my wireless operator. When he appeared, I gave him a message to the secretary of the navy, to whom all vessels in service on thirty and one hundred seventy-five report direct.
"'See here,' said the operator after he'd gone out, 'I guess we should charge double rates for this.'--'I guess you should,' said I.
The voice was now beside them, scarcely a yard away, yet they eoald see nothing on account of the light, which was intermittent, frequently going out for an instant as the operator's thumb tired on the switch.
It chanced, at the start, that I chummed with an English cable operator and a younger member of a Spanish shipping firm.
"Can you hear?" he asked the operator at the New York end.
All of these seemed to be unhurt, and the operator began to breathe more freely; but, before he had time to take a second look, the Judge, advancing, shook him kindly by the hand, and spoke.
The babies are very little and inoffensive and good, and it is hard that they should be used as a means of filling up gaps in conversation, and their features pulled to pieces one by one, and all their weak points noted and criticised, while they stand smiling shyly in the operator's face, their very smile drawing forth comments on the shape of their mouths; but, after all, it does not occur very often, and they are one of those few interests one has in common with other people, as everybody seems to have babies.
This operator did his office after a different manner from those of his trade in Europe.
They were prepared for him to play, and, when heavy buying of Ward Valley began, it was quickly decided that he was the operator. Financial gossip buzzed and hummed.