regulator
Pluralregulators
- 1A part or machine that keeps something at a set level or within safe limits.
Like a faucet you set once so the water always flows at the same speed.
The pressure regulator on the gas tank keeps the flow steady.
We added a small regulator to control how fast the water runs.
Similarcontroller, governor
- 2A person or group with the power to set and enforce rules for an industry or activity.
Like a referee who makes sure everyone follows the rules of the game.
The financial regulator fined the bank for breaking the rules.
A new regulator now oversees how companies handle personal data.
Similarwatchdog, authority, overseer
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- 3Shortened form of voltage regulator. It keeps electric power at a steady level.
The car's regulator stopped the battery from overcharging.
A faulty regulator let too much power reach the bulb.
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- 4On a steam train, the valve or handle that controls how much steam reaches the engine.
Like the gas pedal in a car, but it lets steam into the engine instead.
The driver opened the regulator and the train began to move.
He eased the regulator to slow the engine on the hill.
Similarthrottle
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- 5A gene that helps turn other genes on or off.
Like a light switch that turns other lights on and off.
Scientists found a regulator that switches off the gene during growth.
This regulator controls how much of the protein the cell makes.
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- 6A very exact clock that clockmakers use to check how well each new clock keeps time.
Like the master ruler in a shop that every other ruler is measured against.
The clockmaker set every new watch against the regulator on the wall.
A good regulator hardly loses a second in a whole week.
- 7In higher math, a positive number that measures how spread out a special set of values is.
The regulator turned out to be a small positive number for that field.
In her number theory class, the professor wrote the regulator of the number field on the board as a long decimal.
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- 8In the past, a member of a violent group of white Southerners who used force to scare others.
The regulators rode through the county at night, frightening families from their homes.
Local people feared the regulator who led the armed band.
Similarbulldozer
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Practice
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Origin
From the word "regulate" plus "-or."