| 释义 |
computer|kəmˈpjuːtə(r)|
Also -or.
[f. compute v. + -er1.]
1. One who computes; a calculator, reckoner; spec. a person employed to make calculations in an observatory, in surveying, etc.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. vi. 289 The Calenders of these computers. 1704Swift T. Tub vii, A very skilful computer. 1744Walpole Lett. H. Mann 18 June, Told by some nice computors of national glory. 1855Brewster Newton II. xviii. 162 To pay the expenses of a computer for reducing his observations.
2. a. A calculating-machine; esp. an automatic electronic device for performing mathematical or logical operations; freq. with defining word prefixed, as analogue, digital, electronic computer (see these words).
1897Engineering 22 Jan. 104/2 This was..a computer made by Mr. W. Cox. He described it as of the nature of a circular slide rule. 1915Chambers's Jrnl. July 478/1 By means of this computer the task is performed mechanically and almost instantaneously. 1941Nature 14 June 753/2 The telescope drive is of an elaborate nature; the effects of changing refraction, of differential flexure and of errors in the gears are automatically allowed for by a system of ‘computers’. 1944Times 8 July 2/2 The Mark XIV consists of..a rectangular box called the computor, which might be described as the brains of the machine. 1946Jrnl. Appl. Physics XVII. 262 (heading) A computer for solving linear simultaneous equations. 1946[see electronic a. 3]. 1947[see digital a. 4]. 1957Technology Mar. 9/1 The advent of the electronic digital computer, with its ability to make simple logical decisions, now permits a further step forward by supplementing the brain power required to supervise the control of manufacturing processes. 1957Ibid. July 167/3 At present a computer can read, remember, do arithmetic, make elementary decisions and print its answers. 1958Listener 18 Sept. 413/2 Much work was done..trying to ‘programme’ a computer to play chess. 1963Publishers' Weekly 5 Aug. 80/1 Computers are being used to speed up the production of justified tape for the operation of typesetting machines. 1964F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers i. 1 The popular idea of a computer as an electronic ‘brain’ is not entirely apt. Basically, a computer is merely a calculating machine,..with the difference that the speed of calculation has been enormously increased.
b. attrib. and Comb.
1957Economist 30 Nov. 807/2 Computer-control methods that have already been applied to certain machine tool operations. 1957I. Asimov Earth is Room Enough (1960) 11 The decisions on priority are computer-processed. I could in no way alter those conditions arbitrarily. 1961Times 21 July 3/1 Senior Computer Programmers. 1962Science Survey XX. 322 Functional diagram of computer-controlled milling machine. 1964Discovery Oct. 56/2 Such projects form a part of the developing field of computer-aided design. 1964R. D. Hopper in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 322 The possibilities of ..computer-based thinking. 1964A. Wykes Gambling xi. 259 He must have a computer-like ability to remember all the cards. 1965Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) p. viii, For some time past commerce and industry have been making increasing use of computer-based automatic data processing systems. Ibid. 38 It may well be that the computer-assisted treatment will replace the radical operation of temporal lobectomy. Ibid. 166 The function of a computer-generated sine wave. 1966Performing Right Oct. 10/1 A veteran computer operator. 1968Computers & Humanities II. 145 The computer-generated concordance is probably the earliest-developed..and most useful application of electronic data processing to literary texts. 1969Bessinger & Smith Concordance to Beowulf p. xxiii, We considered writing a computer program to ‘translate’ the text, word by word, into the hyphenated form. 1970Brit. Printer Feb. 27/1 One of the unnerving things about computer-assisted typesetting is the pace at which developments take place. 1970Computers & Humanities IV. 340 Umlauts..and upper case letters are coded for proper computer typesetting.
3. Special Comb.: computer-aided a., performed with the aid of a computer; esp. involving one as an integral part of an operation previously performed without one; computer-literate a., educated or skilled in the use of computers; also computer literacy.
1962J. C. R. Licklider in J. E. Coulson Programmed Learning ii. 217 (heading) Preliminary experiments in *computer-aided teaching. 1963AFIPS Conf. Proc. XXIII. 305/1 A computer-aided design system for general use. 1967Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer v. 114 An experimental vehicle..for on-line computer-aided editing and reformatting of MARC records to adapt the cataloging data for local library use. 1971C. R. W. W. Wright in B. de Ferranti Living with Computer 24 The initial reaction when computer-aided learning is discussed is to imagine vast systems using large and expensive computers. 1984E. P. DeGarmo et al. Materials & Processes in Manuf. (ed. 6) i. 9 It is a natural for the efficient implementation of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) techniques.
1970R. W. Brightman Computer & Junior College 6 Course work designed to develop *computer literacy — a term describing the general understanding of computers and what they do — is highly recommended. 1985Personal Computer World Feb. 40 (Advt.), You'll catch it on TV, the star of a series of computer literacy programmes.
1976Resources in Educ. May 139/1 Benefits of using computers to improve instruction, to provide learner control, and to develop a *computer-literate society are discussed. 1985Listener 28 Feb. 35/1 Without a clear, logical instruction manual, a computer is wholly useless to someone who is not already computer-literate.
Add:[3.] computer virus = *virus n. 2 d.
1984*Computer virus [see *virus n. 2 d]. 1986Times 12 Aug. 21/4 A computer virus attack might bring a major weapons system to a standstill,..or wipe out computer-stored intelligence. 1989Daily Tel. 14 Oct. 1/1 A computer virus triggered by the date Friday 13th struck computers at Britain's leading charity for the blind.
Add:[3.] computer crime, (an instance of) crime involving illegal access to or manipulation of electronic data.
1972New Scientist 2 Mar. 497/3 A growth business indeed, with the highest growth in the unspectacular areas: fraud, credit-card cheating, *computer crimes. 1990Sun (Baltimore) 7 Mar. c3/4 That seat-of-the-pants approach to cracking computer crime isn't taught in the police academy.
computer dating, the use of a computer to match potential partners, according to prespecified criteria of compatibility, desirability, etc.; matchmaking by computer.
1966Look 22 Feb. 35/1 With all the joys and ploys of *computer dating, social life at sexually segregated schools in the Ivy League remains plenty anxiety-laden. 1968Economist 3 Feb. 18/1 The present fad for computer-dating—matching people with people. 1990P. Westcott Finding Someone to Love vii. 86 There are other computer dating agencies, but, there's little doubt that Dateline is the biggest and most successful.
computer-friendly adj., (a) suitable for use with computers, compatible with computers; (b) (of a person) well-disposed towards computers; computer-literate: cf. *-friendly, *friendly a. 5 c.
1982Christian Science Monitor 30 Apr. b16/2 The challenge of making the microcomputer revolution ‘*computer friendly’..was also a primary concern. 1983U.S. Banker July 36 The new computer-friendly VISA Electron card ‘speaks’ three computer languages. 1983National Jrnl. (U.S.) 24 Sept. 4/4 We did not become more computer-friendly. They [sc. computers] became more people-friendly. 1989Guardian 10 Aug. 19/4 Headmasters become factory managers, chosen because they are accountants or computer-friendly. 1991Southwest Sampler (U.S.) Summer ii. 27/1 Siggins even offers computer-friendly desks with built-in keyboard trays.
computer game, a game played on a computer, esp. one involving graphics and operating in real time; also, a software package for such a game.
1965Times Educ. Suppl. 14 May 1480/1 We have found that it is very instructive to use what we call the computer game in this respect. 1966Jrnl. Canad. Operational Res. Soc. 115 Game, computer, a simulation of a competitive situation carried out completely on a computer in which the only human intervention is by the players themselves issuing orders. 1972A. M. Parks Computerized Games & Simulations for Speech Communication 3 As far as could be determined, there have been no computer games designed specifically for the speech communication classes. 1988D. Lodge Nice Work III. ii. 120 Sandra and Gary squabbled over the TV, Sandra wanting to watch the Eastenders omnibus and Gary wanting to play a computer game. 1993Wired (Premiere issue) i. 66 Zero's life revolves around computer games. He only ventures out of his six-mat in Kawagoe to acquire new gameboards.
computer graphic, (a) pl., the use of a computer linked to a VDU to generate and manipulate visual images; (b) a visual image produced or modified by means of a computer; usu. in pl.
1965Proc. AFIPS Conf. XXVII. 883/2 Only with the most recent advances in computer speed and scope performance has a real-time on-line *computer graphics system become practicable. 1986Master Photographer Oct. 42/3 More and more labs are also becoming involved in computer graphics—enabling highly complex graphic presentations to be quickly converted to a photographic form without the need for expensive and time consuming artwork. 1991H. Rheingold Virtual Reality ii. v. 119 By this method, the computer graphics were converted to video format. 1992Industry Week 7 Dec. 62/4 The inventor is in front of a computer graphic which gains depth through the technique. 1993N.Y. Times 24 Oct. v. 15/1 Inside the visitor center, the interactive exhibits use computer graphics, touch screens and speakers to offer information.
computer science, the branch of knowledge that deals with the construction, operation, programming, and applications of computers.
1961IRE Trans. Electronic Computers X. 759 The author describes his discussions with several important Soviet personalities in the *computer sciences. 1964New Scientist 30 Apr. 327/3 (Advt.), Successful completion of the course leads to a Diploma in Computer Science. 1982S. Bellow Dean's December iii. 32 For a while he had taken special courses in computer science. 1991Morningstar & Farmer in M. Benedikt Cyberspace (1993) 298 Cyberspace architects will benefit from study of the principles of sociology and economics as much as from the principles of computer science.
computer scientist, a specialist in computer science.
1968Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry CXIV. 1497/1 Psychiatry may perhaps be able to learn something from the *computer-scientists; but it is just as likely that the computer-scientists will be able to learn from the psychiatrists. 1992Personal Computer World Jan. 366/1 Neural networks are now an established and important part of the computer scientist's toolkit. |