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

This can connect any of the 65 transistor, subcircuit, and voltage pins to one or more of 10 internal buses. —Peter Kinget, IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2025

In the report, Chatterji — who joined OpenAI as its first chief economist after serving as coordinator of the CHIPS and Science Act in the Biden White House — compared AI to transformative technologies such as electricity and the transistor. —Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 23 July 2025

Software Abstraction: Quantum For The Rest Of Us Until recently, writing anything non-trivial for quantum machines meant wrestling with hardware-specific gate lists, much like designing a complex chip at the transistor level. —Yuval Boger, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025

Those transistors can be ones or zeros — on or off. —Kif Leswing, CNBC, 27 June 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