transistor

/trænˈzɪstər/
noun
  1. A small electronic device used in circuits to amplify or switch electrical signals, found in radios, computers, and many other devices.
    • Transistors are much smaller and more reliable than the vacuum tubes they replaced.
    • He replaced a broken transistor in the radio to fix the sound.
    • The invention of the transistor made modern computers possible.
  2. A portable radio that uses transistors (short for 'transistor radio').
    • In the 1960s, teenagers carried transistors to listen to music at the beach.
    • He found a vintage transistor at a garage sale and cleaned it up.
    • My grandmother still has an old transistor that she listens to in the garden.
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