digital computer

noun

Updated on: 31 Mar 2018

Definition of digital computer

: a computer that operates with numbers expressed directly as digits — compare analog computer, hybrid computer

See digital computer defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of digital computer from the Web

To compute something, the qubits need to be able to perform operations on each other, except the researchers don't plan to create discrete gates like a classical digital computer.

— chris lee, Ars Technica, "How a string of giant atoms might bring quantum computers to physics labs," 8 Mar. 2018
All six of the first programmers of America’s first digital computer, Eniac, were women.

— christopher mims, WSJ, "The First Women in Tech Didn’t Leave—Men Pushed Them Out," 10 Dec. 2017
There are many ways to build a von Neumann machine—the world’s standard digital computer since World War II.

— eric freeman and, WSJ, "What STEM Students Need to Know," 19 Dec. 2017
In the control booth above the auditorium, digital computer systems run the lights and sound for music and theater productions, said Kevin Holly, technical theater coordinator.

— denys bucksten, chicagotribune.com, "Libertyville H.S. welcomes community for holiday choral concert," 8 Dec. 2017
Central aspects of humanity—sympathy, intuition, creativity, improvisation, artistic and social skills—could be curtailed or even erased by the brain as a result of its attempt to copy the behavior of digital computers.

— miguel nicolelis, WSJ, "The Troubled Marriage of Brains and Computers," 19 Oct. 2017
Where traditional digital computers are made from bits, each bit representing either a one or a zero, quantum computers are made from some number of qubits (quantum bits).

— peter bright, Ars Technica, "Microsoft makes play for next wave of computing with quantum computing toolkit," 25 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'digital computer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.