analog computer

noun

: a computer that operates with numbers represented by directly measurable quantities (such as voltages or rotations) compare digital computer, hybrid computer

Examples of analog computer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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One example of an analog computer is a mechanical clock. New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025 The mind actually functions more like an analog computer. Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025 Bush, while on the faculty at MIT, designed and built a pioneering analog computer. L. Rafael Reif, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 2025 Old-school analog computers had used clunky patch cords on plug boards. Charles Platt, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2023 Beginning in the early 1950s, Gilbert was involved in developing analog computer and aircraft simulation research programs at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. IEEE Spectrum, 23 Sep. 2019 This is not the plot of Fail-Safe, where the rogue B-52 is dispatched by an analog computer glitch, and which the authors claimed to have conceived in 1957. Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of analog computer was in 1948

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Cite this Entry

“Analog computer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analog%20computer. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

analog computer

noun
: a computer that works with numbers represented by directly measurable quantities (as voltages or resistances) compare digital computer

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