Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A radio or radar transmitter-receiver activated for transmission by reception of a predetermined signal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a radio or radar transceiver that transmits some signal in response to receiving a predetermined signal

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun electrical device designed to receive a specific signal and automatically transmit a specific reply

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[tran(smitter) + (re)sponder.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Blend of transmitter and responder

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Examples

  • Also, with Ku-band (geostationary orbit) satellites, each transponder is pointing at a sector.

    After Long Delays, In-Flight Broadband Is Taking Off 2009

  • At 8: 13 Pete Zalewski sees the information on his radar screen that the transponder is no longer transmitting, that the pilot of American Airlines flight 11 is no longer responding and that the flight route has been changed.

    Now You Can Be Sure: Jews Did 9/11 | Disinformation 2008

  • Your ship was flying at warp 1.1 in a non-designated area, your identification transponder is not functioning, and your warp field is not dampened†¦ click†¦ please stand by†¦ click†¦ click†¦ Sir, Sol is in the Sirius Sector, but this ship is not registered.

    365 tomorrows » 2006 » September : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2006

  • The transponder is what communicates with the toll system to electronically pay a driver’s fee.

    Transportation Hack 2.0 « Isegoria 2008

  • They have to have a specific code in their transponder, which is designed to enhance their signals with radar so that the controllers know who they are.

    CNN Transcript Mar 12, 2008 2008

  • They had a faulty transponder, which is that device which enhances your radar signal.

    CNN Transcript Mar 12, 2008 2008

  • Its transponder, which is what allows radar to see it more clearly, had been turned off by the hijackers.

    CNN Transcript Sep 11, 2006 2006

  • Since 9/11, this whole area around here that looks like a giant Mickey Mouse-shaped deal, is prohibited as well for pilots who do not have communication with air-traffic control, and do not have a specific code in their box, called a transponder, which helps identify them on radar.

    CNN Transcript May 11, 2005 2005

  • COLLINS: And, of course, we are aware that a hijacking alert, otherwise known as the transponder code on these aircraft, was put intact, meaning that something was happening in that survey.

    CNN Transcript Aug 25, 2004 2004

  • Well, if you put a code into the transponder, which is kind of like dialing a frequency on your radio at home, that's pretty cut and dry.

    CNN Transcript Aug 28, 2002 2002

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