subtractor
(sʌbˈtræktə(r))
[f. subtract v. + -or.]
1. (Substituted by Warburton, 1747, for substractor of the folios in Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 37.)
2. Electronics. A circuit or device that produces an output dependent on the difference of two inputs or of multiples of them. Cf. subtracter 3.
| 1950 W. W. Stifler High-Speed Computing Devices 450/1 (Index), Subtractor [in text as subtracter]. 1953 A. D. & K. H. V. Booth Automatic Digital Calculators vi. 36 An adder or subtractor requires the provision of some form of register in which the sum is to be stored. 1970 J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers v. 118 The signals from these [microphones] are fed into an ‘adder/subtractor’ network, giving two outputs, one L + R and the other L - R. 1977 J. G. Graeme Designing with Operational Amplifiers vii. 177 To combine addition and subtraction with integration, the summing and differencing techniques of adders and subtractors are applied to integrators. |