/ Dictionary / Index O operator: Meaning and Definition of Find definitions for: op•er•a•tor Pronunciation: (op'u-rā"tur), [key] — n. a person who operates a machine, apparatus, or the like: a telegraph operator. a person who operates a telephone switchboard, esp. for a telephone company. a person who manages a working or industrial establishment, enterprise, or system: the operators of a mine. a person who trades in securities, esp. speculatively or on a large scale. a person who performs a surgical operation; a surgeon. a differential operator. a symbol for expressing a mathematical operation. a function, esp. one transforming a function, set, etc., into another:a differential operator. a person who accomplishes his or her purposes by devious means; faker; fraud. a person who is adroit at overcoming, avoiding, or evading difficulties, regulations, or restrictions. a person who is extremely successful with or smoothly persuasive to members of the opposite sex. a segment of DNA that interacts with a regulatory molecule, preventing transcription of the adjacent region. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. See also: operator (Thesaurus) operative operatory Related Content Daily Word Quiz: cygnet Analogy of the Day: Today’s Analogy Spelling Bee: Today’s Spelling Bee Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language