Definition of "operator" []

• One who operates a machine or device: a switchboard operator. (noun)
• The owner or manager of a business or an industrial enterprise. (noun)
• One who deals aggressively in stocks or commodities. (noun)
• Informal A person who is adept at accomplishing goals through shrewd or unscrupulous maneuvers. (noun)
• Mathematics A function, especially one from a set to itself, such as differentiation of a differentiable function or rotation of a vector. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In this book I'll use the term operator throughout."
• "Under federal law, BP, as the lead project operator, is responsible for all clean-up costs associated with the spill."
• "The drone operator is safer than the fighter pilot, but safety has rarely been the key variable in determining whether a particular task is “military” or not."