conductor

[kuh n-duhk-ter] /kənˈdʌk tər/
noun
1.
a person who conducts; a leader, guide, director, or manager.
2.
an employee on a bus, train, or other public conveyance, who is in charge of the conveyance and its passengers, collects fares or tickets, etc.
3.
a person who directs an orchestra or chorus, communicating to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands his or her interpretation of the music.
4.
a substance, body, or device that readily conducts heat, electricity, sound, etc.:
Copper is a good conductor of electricity.
5.
lightning rod.
Origin
1400-50; < Latin (see conduce, -tor); replacing late Middle English cond(u)itour < Anglo-French, equivalent to Middle French conduiteur < Latin as above; see conduit
Related forms
conductorial
[kon-duhk-tawr-ee-uh l, -tohr-] /ˌkɒn dʌkˈtɔr i əl, -ˈtoʊr-/ (Show IPA), adjective
conductorship, noun
multiconductor, adjective
preconductor, noun
Examples from the web for conductor
  • Admission fare includes a train ride aboard vintage rollick stock with historical narrative provided by the conductor.
  • Outstanding conductor, teacher, and choral scholar capable of inspiring advanced and beginning students.
  • There would be a perfect non-conductor between them.
  • The car was empty and the conductor sat down beside her to put his arm around her, and to be a comfort to her.
  • When you go through a metal detector at the airport with a conductor such as keys in your pocket, the alarm goes off.
  • Active solar collectors contain either air or a liquid as a conductor.
  • Nor, in the case of a psychological experiment, should either the participant or the conductor know the hypothesis being tested.
  • The authors liken it to a conductor who synchronises and co-ordinates various parts into a united whole.
  • The trip around the mountain takes about a half-hour and is narrated by the conductor.
  • If you're on a train, the conductor will drive it into a special compartment in the underside of the ferry.
British Dictionary definitions for conductor

conductor

/kənˈdʌktə/
noun
1.
an official on a bus who collects fares, checks tickets, etc
2.
Also called (esp US) director. a person who conducts an orchestra, choir, etc
3.
a person who leads or guides
4.
(US & Canadian) a railway official in charge of a train
5.
a substance, body, or system that conducts electricity, heat, etc
6.
See lightning conductor
Derived Forms
conductorship, noun
conductress (kənˈdʌktrɪs) noun:feminine
Word Origin and History for conductor
n.

1520s, "one who leads or guides," from Middle French conductour (14c., Old French conduitor), from Latin conductor "one who hires, contractor," in Late Latin "a carrier," from conductus, past participle of conducere (see conduce).

Earlier in same sense was conduitour (early 15c., from Old French conduitor). Meaning "leader of an orchestra or chorus" is from 1784; meaning "one who has charge of passengers and collects fares on a railroad" is 1832, American English. Physics sense of "object or device that passes heat" is from 1745; of electricity from 1737.

conductor in Medicine

conductor con·duc·tor (kən-dŭk'tər)
n.

  1. A substance or medium that conducts heat, light, sound, or especially an electric charge.

  2. An instrument or probe having a groove along which a knife is passed in slitting open a sinus or fistula; a grooved director.

conductor in Science
conductor
(kən-dŭk'tər)
A material or an object that conducts heat, electricity, light, or sound. Electrical conductors contain electric charges (usually electrons) that are relatively free to move through the material; a voltage applied across the conductor therefore creates an electric current. Insulators (electrical nonconductors) contain no charges that move when subject to a voltage. Compare insulator. See also resistance, superconductivity.

conductor in Culture

conductor definition


A material through which electric current can pass. In general, metals are good conductors. Copper or aluminum is normally used to conduct electricity in commercial and household systems. (Compare insulator.)