converter

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One that converts, especially:
2. n. A furnace in which pig iron is converted into steel by the Bessemer process.
3. n. A machine that converts electric current from one kind to another.
4. n. An electronic device that converts one frequency of a radio signal to another.
5. n. A device that converts data from one code to another.
6. n. One that is employed in converting raw products into finished products.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who converts; one who makes converts.
2. n. A vessel in which metals or other materials are changed or converted from one shape or condition to another. Specifically, in metallurgy, an oval-shaped vessel or retort, hung on an axis, made of iron and lined with some refractory material, in which molten pig-iron is converted by the Bessemer process into what is generally called steel. See steel. Also spelled converter.
3. n. In electricity, an apparatus for changing electric power into a different form by mechanical motion. The synchronous converter or rotary converter changes alternating (single-phase or polyphase) currents into direct currents; the inverted converter changes direct currents into alternating currents; the frequency-converter changes alternating currents into alternating currents of different frequency; the phase-converter changes alternating, usually single-phase, currents into alternating currents of a different number of phases; the direct-current converter changes direct into direct currents. The most common type is the synchronous converter, commonly called converter or rotary converter, which is used for changing the transmitted polyphase alternating current into direct current for use on electric railways, for lighting, etc.

Wiktionary

1. n. A person or thing that converts.
2. n. A retort, used in the Bessemer process, in which molten cast iron is decarburized and converted into steel by a blast of air forced through the liquid metal.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who converts; one who makes converts.
2. n. (Steel Manuf.) A retort, used in the Bessemer process, in which molten cast iron is decarburized and converted into steel by a blast of air forced through the liquid metal.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a device for changing one substance or form or state into another