[syn: calculator, reckoner, figurer, estimator, computer]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Computer \Com*put"er\ (k[o^]m*p[=u]t"[~e]r), n.
1. One who computes.
2. (Computers) an electronic device for performing
calculations automatically. It consists of a clock to
provide voltage pulses to synchronize the operations of
the devices within the computer, a central processing
unit, where the arithmetical and logical operations are
performed on data, a random-access memory, where the
programs and data are stored for rapid access, devices to
input data and output results, and various other
peripheral devices of widely varied function, as well as
circuitry to support the main operations.
Note: This modern sense of computer comprises the
stored-program computers, in which multiple steps in a
calculation may be stored within the computer itself as
instructions in a program, and are then executed by
the computer without further intervention of the
operator. Different types of computer are variously
called analog computer, number cruncher,
number-cruncher, digital computer, and pari-mutuel
machine, totalizer, totaliser, totalizator,
totalisator.
Syn: data processor, electronic computer, information
processing system.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
3. (Computers) same as digital computer.
[PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
electronic device \electronic device\ n.
a device depending on the principles of electronics and using
the manipulation of electron flow for its operation.
[PJC]
Note: Numerous electronic devices are in daily use, among
them the television, radio, computer, robot,
transmitter, receiver, VCR, CD player, etc.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
computer
n 1: a machine for performing calculations automatically [syn:
computer, computing machine, computing device, data
processor, electronic computer, information processing
system]
2: an expert at calculation (or at operating calculating
machines) [syn: calculator, reckoner, figurer,
estimator, computer]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
50 Moby Thesaurus words for "computer":
IBM machine, IDA, Teleplotter, Telereader, abacist, accountant,
actuary, adder, analog computer, analytical control unit, analyzer,
bookkeeper, calculator, coder, collator, compiler,
computer hardware, computer unit, data processor, decoder,
detector, differential, differential analyzer, digital computer,
digital graph plotter, divider, electronic brain,
electronic computer, estimator, figurer, hardware,
information machine, integrator, memory tubes, multiplier,
phase discriminator, position coder, printer, printing calculator,
receptor, reckoner, relay, selective calculator, selector,
statistician, storage unit, telecomputer, thinking machine,
transmitter, tristimulus computer
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
Computer
A journal of the IEEE Computer Society.
(1995-03-10)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
computer
computing
A machine that can be programmed to manipulate
symbols. Computers can perform complex and repetitive
procedures quickly, precisely and reliably and can store and
retrieve large amounts of data. Most computers in use today
are electronic digital computers (as opposed to analogue
computers).
The physical components from which a computer is constructed
are known as hardware, which can be of four types: CPU,
memory, input devices and output devices.
The CPU (central processing unit) executes software
programs which tell the computer what to do. Input and
output (I/O) devices allow the computer to communicate with
the user and the outside world. There are many kinds of
memory or storage - fast, expensive, short term memory
(e.g. RAM) to hold intermediate results, and slower,
cheaper, long-term memory (e.g. magnetic disk and magnetic
tape) to hold programs and data that are not being used
immediately.
Computers today are often connected to a network (which may
be part of the Internet). This allows them to be accessed
from elsewhere and to exchange data with other computers.
(2018-06-25)