Definition of "calculator" in English

noun

1. A mechanical or electronic device that performs mathematical calculations; sometimes, an electronic one specifically.

   • electronic calculator;   pocket calculator
   • The calculator on a bookkeeper's desk in the 1950s was an adding machine with mechanical guts.
   • I told him to hand me a calculator and he jokingly placed an adding machine at my side.

2. (historical) A person who performs mathematical calculation.

   • During the war, his grandmother had worked at the Bletchley Park decoding station as a calculator.

3. A person who calculates (in the sense of scheming).

   • Near-synonyms: schemer, plotter; manipulator
   • He revealed himself to be a cold-blooded calculator out to sabotage his colleagues.

4. (obsolete) A set of mathematical tables.