transistor

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablephysicscomputing

   A tiny electronic component that controls or amplifies electric current in phones, computers, radios, and other devices.

   Grammar: Countable; modern chips contain enormous numbers of transistors.

   Patterns

   • silicon transistor
   • billions of transistors
   • transistor switch

   A processor can contain billions of transistors.

   The radio failed when one transistor burned out.

2. 2nouncountableold-fashioned

   A small portable radio using transistor technology, especially one from the mid-twentieth century.

   Grammar: Countable and often historical; people may say transistor radio when clarity matters.

   Patterns

   • portable transistor
   • transistor radio
   • listen to a transistor

   My grandfather kept an old transistor in the garage.

   Teenagers in the 1960s carried transistors to the beach.

Word forms

Common combinations

transistor radio

She found her father's transistor radio in a box of old electronics.

silicon transistor

Silicon transistors made small computers possible.

transistor circuit

The lab built a simple transistor circuit on a breadboard.

Synonyms and how they differ

transistor radio

Not a synonym for the component, but the common full phrase for the portable radio sense.

semiconductor

Broader material/device category; a transistor is one kind of semiconductor device.

Word family

transistorized adjective

Using transistors rather than older valves or tubes.

transistorize verb

To equip with transistors; uncommon in everyday use.

semiconductor noun

A material or device with conductivity between conductor and insulator.

Commonly confused: transistor or resistor? transistor or transformer?

Practice

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