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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

operator en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɒpəˌɹeɪtə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɑpəˌɹeɪtɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin operātor, from operor (“work, labour”). Equivalent to operate + -or.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) A person or organisation that operates a device, system, service, etc.
    • The drone crashed because of operator error.
    • The new bus operator has promised to improve the frequency of rural services.
    • The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
  2. (countable, uncountable) A telecommunications facilitator whose job is to connect or otherwise assist callers.
    • To get an international line, you used to have to go through the operator.
    • I kept getting "number unobtainable", so I called the operator to find out what was going on.
  3. (countable, uncountable) A member of a military special operations unit.
  4. (countable, uncountable) A surgeon; one who performs medical operations.
    • Oh, a very well-known man. He has a great reputation as an operator for peritonitis. 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
  5. (uncountable) The game of Chinese whispers.
  6. (countable, informal, uncountable) A person who is adept at making deals or getting results, especially one who uses questionable methods.
    • Francis Urquhart: I think Lord Billsborough is starting to lose touch a bit. Tim Stamper: Shame. Used to be a hell of an operator in his day. 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:
  7. (countable, uncountable) A function or other mapping that carries values defined on a domain into another value or set of values in a defined range.
  8. (countable, uncountable) The administrator of a channel or network on IRC.
  9. (countable, uncountable) A symbol that represents a construct in a programming language and differs from a normal function in its syntax.
  10. (countable, uncountable) A kind of expression that enters into an a-bar movement dependency and is said to bind a variable.
    • In the sentence "What did Bill say he wants to buy?", "what" is an operator, binding a phonetically empty variable.
  11. (countable, uncountable) A bus driver.
  12. (countable, qualifier:by ellipsis, uncountable) The company that operates a mine; often the same one that owns the mine.
  13. (countable, slang, uncountable) A thief or charlatan.
    • Hank was saying, "Lyssa showed me the screenshots of Nate's accounts, so we know he's helping himself to Nate's money every month. The guy's a real operator." 2016, C. T. Collier, Planted, Scottsdale, A.Z.: Asdee Press, →ISBN, page 301:
    • Sir Ol. Sirrah! I got many a round Sum by it, when my Father wou'd not give me a Groat—Then, Sir, I was in with all the Top Gameſters, and when there was a fat Squire to be fleec'd; I had my Office among them too, and tho' I ſay it, was one of the neateſt Operators about Town. 1709 January 11, Colley Cibber, “The Rival Fools: […]”, in Mr. Cibber's Plays, volume II, London: […] B. Lintot […], published 1721, page 104:
  14. (countable, slang, uncountable) A major criminal.
    • The second thing is that smart operators like Cocky are only in it for the (huge amounts of) money. 2000 May 14, John Sweeney, “Cocky”, in The Observer, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2023:
    • He started bleating to me this morning aboot being stretched on this hippy stalk. A fuckin waste of time. Big operators flooding the city with smack and three-quarters of the cunts we bang up are daft schemies or students with a wee bit of hash or a few pills for their pals. 1998, Irvine Welsh, Filth, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 140:
  15. (countable, dated, slang, uncountable) Someone who is successful at pursuing women; a player.
    • I give credit to men who are great operators, as we once called them, with the girls. Once I was interviewing one of the most beautiful girls in the world in her suite at the Hotel Plaza. While she was busily denying to me that there was anything serious in her relationship with Warren Beatty, who should be barging into the next room of the suite with a lot of clothes being removed from another suite, but Warren Beatty? 1974, Earl Wilson, Show Business Laid Bare, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 188:
    • Anyway, there's gonna be plenty of girls. Plenty of girls for an operator like you. 1996, George P. Pelecanos, The Big Blowdown, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 298:
    • "Of course you're right, but the Baron is unfortunately a bit of an operator, if you know what I mean. He likes the ladies," said Salvatore with a wicked grin. "So he never gets in until two, sometimes even three in the morning, and that's because he goes dancing at the Mela; he's quite a playboy." 1988 [1977], Luciano De Crescenzo, translated by Avril Bardoni, Thus Spake Bellavista: Naples, Love, and Liberty, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 101:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
operators Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

regulator · labor union · mineowner[coinstantial · miner · laborer · trade union · worker · mineworker

Deriveds

stoperator · superoperator · operator theory · metaoperator · interoperator · operatorless · nonoperator · operatress · intraoperator · operatorial · teleoperator · operon · hyperoperator · cooperator · sysop · operatorship · eigenoperator

Hyponyms

wireless operator · Hamiltonian operator · Reynolds operator · marconi operator · arithmetic operator · system operator · d'Alembert operator · walrus operator · elliptic operator · owner-operator · Dunkl operator · Laplace-de Rham operator · relational operator · hull operator · binary operator · logic operator · telephone operator · machine operator · pseudodifferential operator · unary operator · safe navigation operator · crane operator · linear operator · co-operator · short circuit operator · Laplace operator · mobile virtual network operator · bastard operator from hell · NOT operator · rest operator · infix operator · assignment operator · Elvis operator · differential operator · spread operator · bitwise operator · length operator · closure operator · radio operator · 't Hooft operator · tour operator · ladder operator · telegraph operator · lifted operator · wave operator · Sobel operator · Laplace-Beltrami operator · hypoelliptic operator · comparison operator · dammit operator · flip-flop operator · short-circuit operator · Kleene operator · Sobel-Feldman operator · ternary operator · suede-shoe operator · conditional operator · quabla operator · skyline operator · excavator operator · smooth operator · all-operator · box operator · shape operator · forklift operator · token-pasting operator · integral operator

Relateds

operative · operant · opera · operate · operational · opus · operand · operation · operable

Translations (110)

sv operator (mathematical operator) · ru опера́тор (one who operates) · ru опера́тор (telecommunications operator) · sv telefonist (telecommunications operator) · tl pakilos (mathematical operator) · nl bediener (one who operates) · he מפעיל (one who operates) · el τηλεφωνήτρια (telecommunications operator) · da telefonistinde (telecommunications operator) · el τηλεφωνητής (telecommunications operator) · hu üzemeltető (one who operates) · de Betreiber (one who operates) · sv operatör (one who operates) · hi संचालक (the administrator of a channel or network on IRC) · is virki (mathematical operator) · ro operator (one who operates) · es operador (mathematical operator) · eo operacio (mathematical operator) · cmn 算子 (mathematical operator) · bg телефонѝст (telecommunications operator) · kw oberadores (one who operates) · el χειριστής (one who operates) · hu műveleti jel (mathematical operator) · bg опера́тор (mathematical operator) · sh operator (mathematical operator) · ru опера́тор (mathematical operator) · fi toimija (one who operates) · sh оператер (telecommunications operator) · fi kuljettaja (one who operates) · tr operatör (mathematical operator) · da operator (mathematical operator) · ro operator (telecommunications operator) · hu kezelő (telecommunications operator) · it operatore (mathematical operator) · de Vermittlung (telecommunications operator) · fi liikennöitsijä (one who operates) · gl operador (one who operates) · fi operaattori (telecommunications operator) · pt operador (mathematical operator) · da telefonist (telecommunications operator) · hu üzembentartó (one who operates) · ko 오퍼레이터 (one who operates) · sv operatör (telecommunications operator) · ru телефони́ст (telecommunications operator) · fi operaattori (one who operates) · fa اپراتور (telecommunications operator) · hu gépkezelő (one who operates) · cs operátor (mathematical operator) · pt telefonista (telecommunications operator) · kw oberador (one who operates) · uk опера́тор (one who operates) · el διαχειριστής (the administrator of a channel or network on IRC) · sh оператер (one who operates) · be апера́тар (one who operates) · ru телефони́стка (telecommunications operator) · sh operater (one who operates) · hu operátor (mathematical operator) · fa تلفنچی (telecommunications operator) · ro operator (mathematical operator) · ja 操作者 (one who operates) · gl telefonista (telecommunications operator) · el διαχειρίστρια (the administrator of a channel or network on IRC) · fi vaihteenhoitaja (telecommunications operator) · bg опера́тор (one who operates) · ko 조작자 (one who operates) · pl operator (mathematical operator) · he מרכזיה (telecommunications operator) · pl operator (one who operates) · fi keskuksenhoitaja (telecommunications operator) · fi käyttäjä (one who operates) · sh operater (telecommunications operator) · cmn 話務員 /话务员 (telecommunications operator) · de Telefonist (telecommunications operator) · ro operatoare (telecommunications operator) · hi संचालक (one who operates) · fa عملیپتال (mathematical operator) · fi koneenkäyttäjä (one who operates) · ro telefonistă (telecommunications operator) · tr operatör (one who operates) · sv telebolag (telecommunications operator) · ja 作用素 (mathematical operator) · hu operátor (telecommunications operator) · ja オペレーター (one who operates) · ja 演算子 (mathematical operator) · cmn 運算符 /运算符 (mathematical operator) · fr téléphoniste (telecommunications operator) · bg телефонѝстка (telecommunications operator) · hu telefonos kisasszony (telecommunications operator) · tr operatör (telecommunications operator) · ja 交換手 (telecommunications operator) · pl operator (telecommunications operator) · cmn 操作者 (one who operates) · da operatør (one who operates) · de Rechenzeichen (mathematical operator) · sh djelatelj (mathematical operator) · el τελεστής (mathematical operator) · cmn 接線員 /接线员 (telecommunications operator) · hu kezelő (one who operates) · fi operaattori (mathematical operator) · fr opérateur (one who operates) · mk опера́тор (one who operates) · vi toán tử (mathematical operator) · de Operator (mathematical operator) · fi teleoperaattori (telecommunications operator) · kk оператор (mathematical operator) · fa عملگر (mathematical operator) · fr opérateur (mathematical operator) · de Telefonistin (telecommunications operator) · pt operador (one who operates) · es operador (one who operates)