generator

UK: /ˈdʒɛnəreɪtə^r/ US: /ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtɚ/ ,( jen′ə rā′tər)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

gen•er•a•tor /ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtɚ/   n. [countable]

1. Electricity a machine that converts one form of energy into another, esp. mechanical energy into electrical energy:
   a car's generator.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

gen•er•a•tor  ( jen′ə rā′tər), n. 

1. Electricity a machine that converts one form of energy into another, esp. mechanical energy into electrical energy, as a dynamo, or electrical energy into sound, as an acoustic generator.
2. a person or thing that generates.
3. Chemistry an apparatus for producing a gas or vapor.
4. Mathematics
   • an element or one of a set of elements from which a specified mathematical object can be formed by applying certain operations.
   • an element, as a line, that generates a figure.
5. Computing a program that produces a particular type of output on demand, as random numbers, an application program, or a report.

• Latin generātor producer, equivalent. to generā(re) (see generate) + -tor -tor
• 1640–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

generator / ˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtə/ noun

1. any device for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction, esp a large one as in a power station
2. a device for producing a voltage electrostatically
3. an apparatus for producing a gas
4. a person or thing that generates