Definitions

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

  • noun One that receives something.
  • noun A device, such as a part of a radio, television set, or telephone, that converts incoming electromagnetic signals into sound, light, or electrical signals.
  • noun A person appointed by a court to receive and responsibly administer funds or property connected with ongoing litigation.
  • noun A person who knowingly buys or receives stolen goods.
  • noun A receptacle intended for a specific purpose.
  • noun Football A member of the offensive team eligible to catch a forward pass.
  • noun Sports A player who receives a pass.
  • noun Baseball The catcher.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which receives, in any general sense; a recipient; a receptacle; a taker or container of anything transmitted; as, a receiver of taxes; a receiver for odds and ends.
  • noun An officer appointed to receive public money; a treasurer; specifically, a person appointed by a court of equity or other judicial tribunal to take, pending litigation, the custody and management or disposal of property in controversy, or to receive the rents and profits of land or the produce of other property.
  • noun One who, for purposes of profit or concealment, takes stolen goods from a thief, knowing them to be stolen, thus making himself a party to the crime.
  • noun In chem.:
  • noun A vessel for receiving and containing the product of distillation.
  • noun A vessel for receiving and containing gases.
  • noun The glass vessel placed on the plate of an air-pump, in order to be exhausted of air: so named because it is the recipient of those things on which experiments are made. See air-pump.
  • noun The receiving magnet of an electric telegraph, the receiving apparatus of a telephone, or the like.
  • noun In mech.: A chamber in a compound engine into which the exhaust from one cylinder passes on its way to the next cylinder.
  • noun A chamber in a steam-line, close to the engine, in which water carried along by the steam is given a chance to separate from it before the steam enters the cylinder.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who takes or receives in any manner.
  • noun (Law) A person appointed, ordinarily by a court, to receive, and hold in trust, money or other property which is the subject of litigation, pending the suit; a person appointed to take charge of the estate and effects of a corporation, and to do other acts necessary to winding up its affairs, in certain cases.
  • noun One who takes or buys stolen goods from a thief, knowing them to be stolen.
  • noun A vessel connected with an alembic, a retort, or the like, for receiving and condensing the product of distillation.
  • noun A vessel for receiving and containing gases.
  • noun (Pneumatics) The glass vessel in which the vacuum is produced, and the objects of experiment are put, in experiments with an air pump. Cf. Bell jar, and see Illust. of Air pump.
  • noun A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder before it enters the low-pressure cylinder, in a compound engine.
  • noun A capacious vessel for receiving steam from a distant boiler, and supplying it dry to an engine.
  • noun That portion of a telephonic apparatus, or similar system, at which the message is received and made audible; -- opposed to transmitter.
  • noun (Firearms) In portable breech-loading firearms, the steel frame screwed to the breech end of the barrel, which receives the bolt or block, gives means of securing for firing, facilitates loading, and holds the ejector, cut-off, etc.
  • noun (Physics) a receiver, as that used with the air pump, from which the air has been withdrawn; a vessel the interior of which is a more or less complete vacuum.

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

  • noun A person who receives something.
  • noun A person who acts as trustee for a bankrupt.
  • noun A person who accepts stolen goods.
  • noun A telephone handset.
  • noun football A person who accepts the ball after it has been passed.
  • noun tennis A person who attempts to return the ball after it has been served.
  • noun Any of several electronic devices that receives signals and converts them into sound or vision
  • noun A court administrator
  • noun firearms The part of a firearm containing the action.

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

  • noun set that receives radio or tv signals
  • noun a football player who catches (or is supposed to catch) a forward pass
  • noun earphone that converts electrical signals into sounds
  • noun (law) a person (usually appointed by a court of law) who liquidates assets or preserves them for the benefit of affected parties
  • noun the tennis player who receives the serve
  • noun a person who receives something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

to receive + -er

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Examples

  • In order that they may have both of their hands free to set up and take down the connections and to perform all of the switching operations required, a special form of receiver is employed for this purpose, which is worn as a part of a head-gear and is commonly termed a _head receiver_.

    Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. George Patterson 1910

  • A type of receiver has come into wide use as a result, which is commonly called the _direct-current receiver_, deriving its name from the fact that it employs the direct current that is flowing in the common-battery line to magnetize the receiver cores.

    Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. George Patterson 1910

  • Needs to use his hands with more force in attempts to press and jam before the receiver is able to get into the route ...

    USATODAY.com 2005

  • Today the basic HD receiver is not the 500 but the 505

    Star Choice (Shaw)` 2009

  • Each receiver is tied to an account, and must be released from that account by the account-holder of record.

    Star Choice (Shaw)` 2009

  • Today the basic HD receiver is not the 500 but the 505

    Star Choice (Shaw)` 2009

  • Each receiver is tied to an account, and must be released from that account by the account-holder of record.

    Star Choice (Shaw)` 2009

  • Another person should standby at the television to see if the receiver is receiving good quality signals.

    From Tv | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • The receiver is as bad as the thief, you know; and you needn't console yourself with any fictitious moral superiority concerning this little deal.

    A DAY'S LODGING 2010

  • The receiver is as bad as the thief — aye, and the thief is finer than the receiver; he at least has the courage to run the risk.

    The Somnambulists 2010

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