supercomputer

[soo-per-kuh m-pyoo-ter, soo-per-kuh m-pyoo-ter] /ˈsu pər kəmˌpyu tər, ˌsu pər kəmˈpyu tər/
noun
1.
a very fast, powerful mainframe computer, used in advanced military and scientific applications.
Origin
super- + computer
Examples from the web for supercomputer
  • Today, it was named the fastest supercomputer in the world.
  • The supercomputer industry is one poignant indication of the long-term trends.
  • Your brain is faster and more powerful than a supercomputer.
  • Theorists using supercomputer simulations have retraced the steps that produced the first stars and galaxies.
  • So it has been promised a sweetener in the form of a smaller reactor and a supercomputer.
  • Twenty years ago, nobody could seriously have imagined owning a supercomputer of their own.
  • The representation shows the complexity of this part of the brain, which has now been modeled using a supercomputer.
  • The second was for a supercomputer to break cryptographic keys.
  • But it turns out that each neuron is supported by a supercomputer's worth of additional circuitry.
  • It shouldn't be too difficult to model on a decent supercomputer.
British Dictionary definitions for supercomputer

supercomputer

/ˌsuːpəkəmˈpjuːtə/
noun
1.
a powerful computer that can process large quantities of data of a similar type very quickly
Derived Forms
supercomputing, noun
Word Origin and History for supercomputer
n.

1968, from super- + computer.

supercomputer in Technology
computer
A broad term for one of the fastest computers currently available. Such computers are typically used for number crunching including scientific simulations, (animated) graphics, analysis of geological data (e.g. in petrochemical prospecting), structural analysis, computational fluid dynamics, physics, chemistry, electronic design, nuclear energy research and meteorology. Perhaps the best known supercomputer manufacturer is Cray Research.
A less serious definition, reported from about 1990 at The University Of New South Wales states that a supercomputer is any computer that can outperform IBM's current fastest, thus making it impossible for IBM to ever produce a supercomputer.
(1996-12-13)