transistor

tran·sis·tor

noun \tran-ˈzis-tər, tran(t)-ˈsis-\

Definition of TRANSISTOR

1

: a solid-state electronic device that is used to control the flow of electricity in electronic equipment and usually consists of a small block of a semiconductor (as germanium) with at least three electrodes

2

: a transistorized radio

Origin of TRANSISTOR

¹transfer + resistor; from its transferring an electrical signal across a resistor

First Known Use: 1948

Rhymes with TRANSISTOR

half sister, persister, resister, resistor, sob sister, solicitor, stepsister, tongue twister, weak sister

tran·sis·tor

noun \tranz-ˈis-tər, tran(t)s-\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of TRANSISTOR

: a solid-state electronic device that is used to control the flow of electricity in electronic equipment and consists of a small block of a semiconductor (as germanium) with at least three electrodes

transistor

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

A transistor is a sandwich of dissimilar semiconductors to which are attached three electrodes. …—© Merriam-Webster Inc.

Solid-state semiconductor device for amplifying, controlling, and generating electrical signals. Invented at Bell Labs (1947) by John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William B. Shockley, it displaced the vacuum tube in many applications. Transistors consist of layers of different semiconductors produced by addition of impurities (such as arsenic or boron) to silicon. These impurities affect the way electric current moves through the silicon. Transistors were pivotal in the advancement of electronics because of their small size, low power requirements, low heat generation, modest cost, reliability, and speed of operation. Single transistors were superseded in the 1960s and '70s by integrated circuits; present-day computer chips contain millions of transistors. Today transistors perform many different functions in nearly every type of electronic equipment.