moderator

noun mod·er·a·tor \ ˈmä-də-ˌrā-tər \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of moderator

1 : one who arbitrates : mediator

2 : one who presides over an assembly, meeting, or discussion: such as

a : the presiding officer of a Presbyterian governing body

b : the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting

c : the chairman of a discussion group

3 : a substance (such as graphite) used for slowing neutrons in a nuclear reactor

—

moderatorship

play \-ˌship\ noun

See moderator defined for English-language learners

See moderator defined for kids

Examples of moderator in a Sentence

The moderator allowed audience members to ask the governor questions.
She acts as the moderator in our office meetings.

Recent Examples of moderator from the Web

Reddit, like Facebook and other sites, may never be able to hire enough human moderators to police every bit of speech uploaded daily.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Reddit CEO Steve Huffman clarifies that racism is not welcome on the platform," 12 Apr. 2018
Oliver Scholes, the program coordinator for Public Programs and Outreach at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, will serve as moderator/facilitator.

— steve smith, Courant Community, "Conversation To Explore King's Legacy," 11 Apr. 2018
Christopher Carlozzi, event moderator and head of the National Federation of Independent Business Massachusetts, repeatedly urged business owners to head to Beacon Hill after the forum ended to meet with their state legislators.

— katie johnston, BostonGlobe.com, "Business owners take on $15 minimum wage, paid leave," 10 Apr. 2018
In Germany, where hate speech laws require vigilant attention from content reviewers, Facebook has hired about 1,200 moderators.

— kevin roose and paul mozur, New York Times, "Zuckerberg Was Called Out Over Myanmar Violence. Here’s His Apology.," 9 Apr. 2018
Shortly after, the moderator puppet would pretend to fall asleep as the others continued working on the art, leaving the child alone with one puppet.

— scott berson, charlotteobserver, "Lots of kids tattletale - but maybe that's a good thing, study says | Charlotte Observer," 6 Apr. 2018
The historical response that users can report abuse and moderators will review hasn’t changed in 4 years.

— nitasha tiku, WIRED, "One Woman Got Facebook to Police Opioid Sales On Instagram," 6 Apr. 2018
At its peak, according to the report, Backpage hired between 50 to 60 moderators who worked staggered shifts around the clock in order to sift through an average of 14,000 ads each day.

— megan cassidy, azcentral, "Backpage founder arrested by feds on charges of aiding prostitution," 6 Apr. 2018
The law has already had an appreciable impact on social media networks, and not just in Germany: Around the globe, Facebook has plans to hire 10,000 new content moderators to scour the site for hate speech, doubling its current number.

— yascha mounk, The New Republic, "Germany’s risky law for stopping hate speech on Facebook and Twitter," 3 Apr. 2018

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