receiver
nounUS /ɹəˈsi.vɚ/ · UK /ɹɪˈsiː.və/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English receyvour, from Anglo-Norman receverre, receivour et al., later also reformed as receive + -er. Compare recevor, rescaivour.
14 senses
- 1An official whose job is to receive taxes or other…
- 2A person who receives something in a general sense; a recipient.
- 3A person who accepts stolen goods.
- 4A person or company appointed to settle the affairs of…
- 5An offensive player who catches the ball after it has…
- 6A person who attempts to return the serve.
- 7Something which receives some substance or object, in a…
- 8A vessel for receiving and holding the products of…
- 9An airtight vessel from which air is pumped in order to…
- 10The part of a firearm containing the action.
- 11A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the…
- 12Any of several electronic devices that receive…
- 13The part of a telephone handset contained in the…
- 14A swaption which gives its holder the option to enter…
› A person who receives.
Historical An official whose job is to receive taxes or other monies; a tax collector, a treasurer.
A person who receives something in a general sense; a recipient.
- I, the writer of this paper, have been, for some time, a chosen receiver of Begging Letters.1850, Charles Dickens, “The Begging-Letter Writer”, in Household Words:
A person who accepts stolen goods.
A person or company appointed to settle the affairs of an insolvent entity.
- This was the West Lancashire Railway, an ambitious but feckless little concern which, in a life lasting a quarter of a century, never earned a dividend, failed to keep up its debenture payments (despite a dangerous attempt to do so by issuing more debentures) and ended up in the hands of a receiver.1960 March 23, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Preston—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 201:
- It took the name Midland & South Western Junction in 1884 and reached Cheltenham, with its M.R. connection, in 1891; but poverty continued - a receiver had been appointed in 1884.1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 585:
American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports An offensive player who catches the ball after it has been passed.
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Racquet sports, Sports A person who attempts to return the serve.
› An item or apparatus that receives.
Something which receives some substance or object, in a general sense; a receptacle.
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A vessel for receiving and holding the products of distillation, or for containing gases.
Historical An airtight vessel from which air is pumped in order to form a vacuum.
- A man can live in thick air, but perishes in an exhausted receiver.1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 839:
Engineering, Firearms, Government, Military, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Politics, Tools, War, Weaponry The part of a firearm containing the action.
Historical A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder before it enters the low-pressure cylinder, in a compound steam engine.
Any of several electronic devices that receive electromagnetic waves, or signals transmitted as such.
- The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)
The part of a telephone handset contained in the earpiece; (hence) the handset itself; an earpiece.
- There they waited until after eleven, then Paulvitch took down the receiver of their telephone. He called a number.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Plot That Failed”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 60:
- Derived terms
- Ader receiver, cat's whisker receiver, crystal radio receiver, exhausted receiver, first receiver, GPS receiver, multireceiver, phosphoreceiver, photoreceiver, RAKE receiver, rake receiver, receiver-general, receiverless, receivership, spoon receiver, superheterodyne receiver, supersonic heterodyne receiver, telereceiver, television receiver, watch receiver, wide receiver
- Coordinate terms
- transmitter-receiver, transceiver