processor

A processor is a person or machine that goes through certain procedures to achieve a particular result. A milk processor milks cows, stores the milk, pasteurizes it, and bottles it before you buy it a store.

There are many different kinds of processors, but what they all have in common is going through a process, a series of specific steps, to accomplish something. The food processor in your kitchen quickly dices pounds of onions, a task that would take considerable work to complete by hand. A word processor does the same for writing, allowing you to easily edit text. Computer processors control and move vast amounts of data. The Latin root means "advance or progress."

Primary Meanings of processor

1.
 n
someone who processes things (foods or photographs or applicants etc.)
2.
 n
(computer science) the part of a computer (a microprocessor chip) that does most of the data processing
Full Definitions of processor
1

n someone who processes things (foods or photographs or applicants etc.)

Type of:
worker
a person who works at a specific occupation

n a business engaged in processing agricultural products and preparing them for market

Type of:
business, business concern, business organisation, business organization, concern
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
2

n (computer science) the part of a computer (a microprocessor chip) that does most of the data processing

Synonyms:
C.P.U., CPU, central processing unit, central processor, mainframe
Type of:
electronic equipment
equipment that involves the controlled conduction of electrons (especially in a gas or vacuum or semiconductor)
computer hardware, hardware
(computer science) the mechanical, magnetic, electronic, and electrical components making up a computer system

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