I. ˈmänəd.ə(r), -ətə(r) sometimes -əˌtȯ(ə)r or -ȯ(ə) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin, one that reminds or warns, overseer, from monitus + -or
1.
a. : a student appointed to assist a teacher (as by keeping order, performing routine duties, or in some educational systems teaching younger students)
b. : a person or thing that gives advice (as of caution) or instruction regarding conduct : one that reproves, reminds, or instructs : admonisher, adviser
enough practical experience on the fighting line to serve as monitors and instructors for troops green in the game of war — New York Times
: reminder
observed the customary stack of documents on this busy man's reading table, and … took it as a silent monitor — Upton Sinclair
c.
(1) : one that monitors something
learned from a broadcast heard by a United States monitor
an electronic monitor
(2) : an observer responsible for reporting misdeeds
the correspondents put fresh vigor into their classic role as people's monitor over the Government — Time
(3) : an instrument that measures (as vital signs during surgery) or gives warning (as of excessive radiation)
(4) : a cathode-ray tube used for display (as of television pictures or computer information)
2. archaic : a board worn or fastened across the back to give erectness to the figure
3. also monitor lizard
[so called from the belief that such lizards give warning of the presence of crocodiles]
: any of various large tropical Old World pleurodont lizards closely related to the iguanas and constituting the genus Varanus and the family Varanidae and including an African lizard ( V. niloticus ) that destroys crocodile eggs — compare komodo dragon
4.
[from the Monitor, the first ship of this type, designed in 1862 for the United States Navy by John Ericsson died 1889 American engineer and inventor born in Sweden]
a. : a heavily armored warship formerly used in coastal operations, having a very low freeboard and one or more revolving turrets with heavy guns, and sacrificing speed and coal capacity to steadiness as gun platforms and to thickness of armor
b. : a small modern warship with shallow draft and two 15-inch guns for coastal bombardment
5. also monitor top : a raised central portion of a roof (as along the ridge of a gable roof) having low windows or louvers along its sides and used to provide light and air
6. or monitor nozzle : a nozzle capable of turning completely round in a horizontal plane with a limited play in a vertical plane and used in hydraulic mining and fire fighting
7. : a tool-holding turret on a machine
II. verb
( monitored ; monitored ; monitoring -d.əriŋ, -tər-, -ȯr-, -nə.triŋ ; monitors )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to check and sometimes to adjust (as a radio or television signal, channel, or program) for quality or fidelity to a band by means of a receiver during or sometimes before transmission
the frequency must be exact, constant, and carefully monitored — M.H.Aronson
gradually introducing automatic monitoring of the aural quality of its programs — Times Review of Industry
b. : to check (as a radio or television broadcast or a telephone conversation) for military, political, or criminal significance by means of a receiver
monitor radiotelephone messages out of Hawaii — New Republic
2. : to test (as air, a surface, a beam of radiation, clothing, personnel) for intensity of radiation (as from radioactivity) to determine whether the intensity comes within specified limits
monitor the upper air to collect telltale evidence of atomic explosions — Time
3. : to watch, observe, or check especially for a special purpose
had to monitor every word and thought — Polly Adler
crew chiefs monitored engines and the array of dials, switches and lights that told them how each item of equipment was functioning — Gordon Williams
monitor political gossip
4. : to keep track of, regulate, or control (as a process or the operation of a machine)
personnel … involved in monitoring the work of this contract — A.A.Campbell
— used especially of an automatic electronic device
the line is monitored by a new instrument called the quality control indicator — Science News Letter
specifically : to keep track of (aircraft in flight) by means of radar
radar stations monitoring all our heavy bombers — W.R.Frye
5. : to check or regulate the volume or quality of (sound) in preparation for recording or during recording
sound is monitored and the correct effect is introduced; it would obviously be ludicrous to have close-up sound in a long shot — O.B.Hanson
intransitive verb
: to act as a monitor
III. noun
: software or hardware that monitors the operation of a system and especially a computer system