sensor

[sen-sawr, -ser] /ˈsɛn sɔr, -sər/
noun
1.
a mechanical device sensitive to light, temperature, radiation level, or the like, that transmits a signal to a measuring or control instrument.
2.
a sense organ.
Origin
1925-30; sense + -or2
Can be confused
censer, censor, censure, sensor.
Examples from the web for sensor
  • When darkness falls, a built-in sensor turns on the lights, which glow for up to eight hours.
  • Test takers' digital fingerprints, recorded by a sensor before the examination, are kept in an electronic database.
  • The same sensor-embedded glove technology can help identify whether a ball is being handled, caught, and thrown properly.
  • Apparently the sensor in them is probably faulty, but only if it came from one of their several suppliers.
  • Unlike her take home final, the essays were not well written enough to set off my student-did-not-write-this-sensor.
  • Attached to one end was an electronic device containing a sensor and a transmitter.
  • sensor-studded clothing worn by a soldier tracks his movements and vital signs.
  • Set on an electric sensor, as the sun sets or fades, the volume of the piece decreases.
  • They are large enough to trip the sensor on my flood lights.
  • The sensor measures time and distance, plus it calculates the number of calories burned.
British Dictionary definitions for sensor

sensor

/ˈsɛnsə/
noun
1.
anything, such as a photoelectric cell, that receives a signal or stimulus and responds to it
Word Origin
C19: from Latin sēnsus perceived, from sentīre to observe
Word Origin and History for sensor
n.

1947, from an adjective (1865), a shortened form of sensory (q.v.).

sensor in Medicine

sensor sen·sor (sěn'sər, -sôr')
n.

  1. A device, such as a photoelectric cell, that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus.

  2. See sense organ.

sensor in Technology

hardware
An electronic device used to measure a physical quantity such as temperature, pressure or loudness and convert it into an electronic signal of some kind (e.g a voltage). Sensors are normally components of some larger electronic system such as a computer control and/or measurement system.
Analog sensors most often produce a voltage proportional to the measured quantity. The signal must be converted to digital form with a ADC before the CPU can process it.
Digital sensors most often use serial communication such as EIA-232 to return information directly to the controller or computer through a serial port.
(1997-04-15)