INDICATOR • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Indicator

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/ˈɪndəkˌeɪtər/ Listen

noun

Indicator n.

1.

One who, or that which, shows or points out; as, a fare indicator in a street car.

2.

(Mach.) A pressure gauge; a water gauge, as for a steam boiler; an apparatus or instrument for showing the working of a machine or moving part; as:

(a)

(Steam Engine) An instrument which draws a diagram showing the varying pressure in the cylinder of an engine or pump at every point of the stroke. It consists of a small cylinder communicating with the engine cylinder and fitted with a piston which the varying pressure drives upward more or less against the resistance of a spring. A lever imparts motion to a pencil which traces the diagram on a card wrapped around a vertical drum which is turned back and forth by a string connected with the piston rod of the engine. See Indicator card (below).

(b)

A telltale connected with a hoisting machine, to show, at the surface, the position of the cage in the shaft of a mine, etc.

3.

(Mech.) The part of an instrument by which an effect is indicated, as an index or pointer.

4.

(Zool.) Any bird of the genus Indicator and allied genera. See Honey guide, under Honey.

5.

(Chem.) That which indicates the condition of acidity, alkalinity, or the deficiency, excess, or sufficiency of a standard reagent, by causing an appearance, disappearance, or change of color, as in titration or volumetric analysis. Note: The common indicators are litmus, tropaeolin, phenol phthalein, potassic permanganate, etc.

Indicator card, the figure drawn by an engine indicator, by means of which the working of the engine can be investigated and its power calculated. The Illustration shows one form of indicator card, from a steam engine, together with scales by which the pressure of the steam above or below that of the atmosphere, corresponding to any position of the engine piston in its stroke, can be measured. Called also indicator diagram.

Indicator telegraph, a telegraph in which the signals are the deflections of a magnetic needle, as in the trans-Atlantic system.

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Etymology of 'Indicator'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Indicator" Quotes from Famous Books

... feeling is expressed in his journalistic writings that helps to raise a doubt as to his capacity for work of the best class in fiction. Still, if it be true, as some of those who were his friends say, that this occasional work was seldom much studied, it becomes unreliable as an indicator of the writer's character. The same hand that in the famous Snob Papers so savagely, and in at least one case so intemperately, satirised types of English society, afterwards produced novels in which fidelity to the essential facts of life is the most conspicuous quality. So, too, might it have ...

— Australian Writers • Desmond Byrne

... have never shot this feathered friend of man, although frequent opportunities presented themselves. He appears to be the Cuculus Indicator (le Coucou Indicateur) and the Om-Shlanvo of the Kafirs; the Somal call him Maris. Described by Father Lobo and Bruce, he is treated as a myth by Le Vaillant; M. Wiedman makes him cry "Shirt! Shirt! Shirt!" Dr. Sparrman "Tcherr! Tcherr!" Mr. Delegorgue ...

— First footsteps in East Africa • Richard F. Burton

... entered the doctor's office a few moments before in obedience to the invitation sank into a luxurious chair. The doctor looked at him casually, and, touching an indicator at the ...

— Best Short Stories • Various

... of the Honourable John. We began to fear that he would be left. The captain pulled the string again, and the syren sounded, with a peculiar urgency, as it seemed to me, ending in a despairing wail; then, stepping to the indicator, he signalled to the engineer, and the paddles began to revolve. The forward hawser was thrown off and fell with a splash into the sea; astern we were yet ...

— Adventures in Many Lands • Various

... bridge ran hidden telegraph lines to the bow, stern engine-room, crow's-nest on the foremast, and to all parts of the ship where work was done, each wire terminating in a marked dial with a movable indicator, containing in its scope every order and answer required in handling the massive hulk, either at the dock or at sea—which eliminated, to a great extent, the hoarse, nerve-racking shouts of officers ...

— The Wreck of the Titan - or, Futility • Morgan Robertson

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