| receiver | 1. One who takes or receives in any manner. 2. A person appointed, ordinarily by a court, to receive, and hold in trust, money or other property which is the subject of litigation, pending the suit; a person appointed to take charge of the estate and effects of a corporation, and to do other acts necessary to winding up its affairs, in certain cases. 3. One who takes or buys stolen goods from a thief, knowing them to be stolen. 4. <chemistry> A vessel connected with an alembic, a retort, or the like, for receiving and condensing the product of distillation. A vessel for receiving and containing gases. 5. <physics> The glass vessel in which the vacuum is produced, and the objects of experiment are put, in experiments with an air pump. Cf. Bell jar, and 6. <engineering> A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder before it enters the low-pressure cylinder, in a compound engine. A capacious vessel for receiving steam from a distant boiler, and supplying it dry to an engine. 7. That portion of a telephonic apparatus, or similar system, at which the message is received and made audible; opposed to transmitter. <physics> Exhausted receiver, a receiver, as that used with the air pump, from which the air has been withdrawn; a vessel the interior of which is a more or less complete vacuum. Origin: Cf. F. Receveur. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| receiver cell | <plant biology> Cells in the photosynthetic tissues of plants into which the solutes from xylem are pumped. (18 Nov 1997) |
| receiver operating characteristic | A plot of the sensitivity of a diagnostic test as a function of non-specificity (one minus the specificity). The ROC curve indicates the intrinsic properties of a test's diagnostic performance and can be used to compare the relative merits of competing procedures. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receiver operating characteristic curve | A plot of true positive versus false positive results, usually in a trial of a diagnostic test. A graphical means of assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons. Synonym: ROC curve. (05 Mar 2000) |