transistor

noun

tran·sis·tor | \ tran-ˈzi-stər,

tran(t)-ˈsi-\

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 (such as germanium) with at least three electrodes

2 : a transistorized radio

Examples of transistor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Samsung, Apple, and many others will increasingly need to do more with the existing transistors on chips instead of continuing to shrink their size. — Tom Warren, The Verge, "Nvidia rethinks the graphics card with the RTX 2080," 14 Sep. 2018 All of this is electrically connected to a transistor. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Big transistor senses the arrival of a single molecule," 29 Oct. 2018 Microsoft went to a new display design that uses a different transistor, with a smaller pixel but a greater aperture. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft launches next-gen Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop, Surface Studio and more," 2 Oct. 2018 Similarly, analog components (for Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity) are optimal on different processes, with different transistor designs. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Intel introduces Foveros: 3D die stacking for more than just memory," 12 Dec. 2018 All of that will be controlled from a color dash screen (TFT, or thin film transistor liquid crystal display, also similar to what Ducati uses). — Alexander George, Popular Mechanics, "The Harley-Davidson LiveWire Electric Motorcycle Goes Public," 6 Nov. 2018 The current through the transistor changes when a molecule attaches to the sensing surface. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Big transistor senses the arrival of a single molecule," 29 Oct. 2018 The commercial pressure to keep shrinking transistors has brought them down to near-atomic sizes, while spurring investment in miniaturization techniques. — Frank Wilczek, WSJ, "The Second Quantum Revolution," 18 Oct. 2018 Computer chips are made up of billions of transistors that switch the flow of electricity on and off in microscopic wires. — Eric Smalley, Discover Magazine, "Cellular Cyborgs: How Programmable DNA Strands Might Control Healing," 25 Sep. 2018

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

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13 Jan 2019

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The first known use of transistor was in 1948

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More Definitions for transistor

transistor

noun

English Language Learners Definition of transistor

: a small device that is used to control the flow of electricity in radios, computers, etc.

See the full definition for transistor in the English Language Learners Dictionary

transistor

noun

tran·sis·tor | \ tran-ˈzi-stər

Kids Definition of transistor

: a small solid electronic device used for controlling the flow of electricity

transistor

noun

tran·sis·tor | \ tranz-ˈis-tər, tran(t)s-

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