transistor

noun

tran·​sis·​tor tran-ˈzi-stər 

tran(t)-ˈsi-

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

Terman also convinced Bell Labs’ William Shockley, who co-invented the transistor, to move to the Park (after his company was originally headquartered in Mountain View). —Mark Dent, HubSpot, 25 Apr. 2025

The lower nanometer count just means the transistors have become smaller, allowing more of them to be placed on the chip. —Ben Sin, Forbes, 15 Mar. 2025

Engineers use their products to create blueprints for the arrangement of tens of billions of transistors and connecting wires — the underlying architecture of the tiny components. —Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025

Engineers kept Moore’s Law—the doubling of transistor count every couple of years—alive for more than five decades by incrementally reducing the wavelength of light and expanding the numerical aperture of the imaging system used in lithography. —Jayson Stewart, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

trans- + (re)sist(ance) entry 1 + -or entry 1

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing transistor

• field-effect transistor
• transistor radio

Rhymes for transistor

• resister
• resistor
• stepsister
• blister
• lyster
• mister
• sister
• twister

Kids Definition

transistor

noun

tran·​sis·​tor tranz-ˈis-tər 

tran(t)s-

1

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

2

: a radio having transistors

called also transistor radio

Medical Definition

transistor

noun

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

: 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