receiver (redirected from receive)

receiver

(1) A device that accepts signals. Contrast with "transmitter," which sends signals. The term is used generically to refer to "the side being sent to." For example, "by the time the signal gets to the receiver..." refers to whichever hardware device is at the other end of the communication.

(2) A unit of audio or audio/video equipment that serves as the control panel for a stereo or home theater system. See stereo receiver and A/V receiver.

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receiver

1. a person appointed by a court to manage property pending the outcome of litigation, during the infancy of the owner, or after the owner(s) has been declared bankrupt or of unsound mind

2. Chiefly Brit a person who receives stolen goods knowing that they have been stolen

3. the equipment in a telephone, radio, or television that receives incoming electrical signals or modulated radio waves and converts them into the original audio or video signals

4. the equipment in a radar system, radio telescope, etc., that converts incoming radio signals into a useful form, usually displayed on the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope

5. Chem a vessel in which the distillate is collected during distillation