noun the part of an instrument by which an effect is indicated, as an index or pointer.
2. indicator ·noun one who, or that which, shows or points out; as, a fare indicator in a street car.
3. indicator ·noun any bird of the genus indicator and allied genera. ·see honey guide, under honey.
4. indicator ·noun a telltale connected with a hoisting machine, to show, at the surface, the position of the cage in the shaft of a mine, ·etc.
5. indicator ·noun 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.
6. indicator ·noun 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.
7. indicator ·noun 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).