Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that transmits.
  • noun An electronic device that generates and amplifies a carrier wave, modulates it with a meaningful signal derived from speech or other sources, and radiates the resulting signal from an antenna.
  • noun The portion of a telephone that converts the incident sounds into electrical impulses that are conveyed to a remote receiver.
  • noun A telegraphic sending instrument.
  • noun A neurotransmitter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See indicator, 1 .
  • noun One who or that which transmits.
  • noun Specifically— In telegraphy, the sending or despatching instrument, especially that under the automatic system, in which a paper strip with perforations representing the Morse or a similar alphabet is passed rapidly through an instrument called an automatic transmitter, in which contacts are made by metallic points wherever a perforation occurs, and are prevented where the paper is unpierced.
  • noun In telephony, the microphonic or other apparatus, together with the funnel for receiving the voice and converging the waves of sound upon the thin iron diaphragm. See telephone.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who, or that which, transmits; specifically, that portion of a telegraphic or telephonic instrument by means of which a message is sent; -- opposed to receiver.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun something that transmits something (in all senses).
  • noun an electronic device that generates and amplifies a carrier wave, modulates it with a meaningful signal derived from speech, music, TV or other sources, and broadcasts the resulting signal from an antenna.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who transmits a message
  • noun any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease
  • noun set used to broadcast radio or tv signals

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

to transmit + -er

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word transmitter.

Examples

  • In the wonderful system of the telephone with its miracle of intercommunication there is, as you know, at each instrument that little film of metal which we call the transmitter, into which the message is delivered, and whose vibrations are repeated scores of miles away.

    Mornings in the College Chapel Short Addresses to Young Men on Personal Religion Francis Greenwood Peabody 1891

  • Shes about the size of a dinner plate, and the transmitter is glued to her shell.

    The Tortoise And The Solar Plant: A Mojave Story 2010

  • Today, however, Belkin announced its latest TuneBase FM transmitter is equipped with something called "ClearScan" technology, which can automatically seek out the clearest FM frequency to play your tunes.

    New FM transmitter has trick up its sleeve | Sync Blog 2007

  • The Cyclers are controlled by a hidden handset but they are also robots acting on messages rather than just simple radio-controlled devices and if the message gets corrupted by interference they don't do it and if the transmitter is turned off they shut down and go to sleep until it turned back on.

    Rise of the (giggling, punning, dancing) robots ewillett 2007

  • This week, however, Belkin announced its latest TuneBase FM transmitter is equipped with something called "ClearScan" technology, which can automatically seek out the clearest FM frequency to play your tunes.

    New FM transmitter hits the spot 2007

  • They do this by a “chemical” reaction ie: a tiny amount of a substance called a neuro-transmitter is released from the the nerve ending into the junction with the next nerve (synapse).

    Double Words Optical Illusion – Ambigram 2006

  • Is it, as we suspected, based on indirect evidence, the presynaptic element of the synapse where chemical transmitter is released, or is it the postsynaptic site which contains the receptors which bind and respond to the transmitter?

    Eric R. Kandel - Autobiography 2001

  • But as knowledge of wave motions developed and the laws of governing them were better understood, the receiver was "tuned" to respond to the transmitter, that is, the transmitter was made to set up a definite rate of vibrations in the ether and the receiver made to respond to this rate, just like two tuning forks sounding the same note.

    Marvels of Modern Science Paul Severing

  • The transmitter is coded, like the newer Polar transmitter units, so you never have to worry about interference from other transmitters -- a common problem in race events.

    We Blog A Lot 2008

  • The transmitter is coded, like the newer Polar transmitter units, so you never have to worry about interference from other transmitters -- a common problem in race events.

    We Blog A Lot 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.