repeater
(rɪˈpiːtə(r))
[f. repeat v. + -er1.]
† 1. A rehearser, trainer. Obs. rare—1.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 920/2 In his chappell he had a deane:..a subdeane: a repeater of the quire [etc.]. |
2. a. One who repeats something heard or learned; a relater, reciter.
| 1598 Florio, Ripitore; a repeater or relator of a matter. 1656 Artif. Handsom. 121 More repeaters of their popular Oratorious vehemencies, than urgers and confirmers of their argumentative strength. 1739 Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 94 Some great author whose sense is deeper than the repeater's understanding. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 18/2 There is another very peculiar kind of delivery sometimes used in the person of a repeater. 1819 Byron Juan i. xxviii, The hearers of her case became repeaters, Then advocates, inquisitors, and judges. 1893 Max Müller in Barrows Parlt. Relig. II. 936 Thus only can we use the words..not as thoughtless repeaters, but as honest thinkers and believers. |
† b. (See quot. 1691.) Obs.
| 1672 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 96 Repeaters—1661, Thomas Tomkins, All S[ouls] C[ollege]. 1691 ― Ath. Oxon. II. 817 In 1665 he was the Repeater or Repetitioner in S. Maries Church on Low Sunday, of the four Easter Sermons, which being admirably well performed, all to a word memoriter, without any hesitation, he obtained a great esteem among the Academians. 1710 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 373 The Repeater of the four Easter-Sermons was Mr. Francis Bagshaw. Ibid., Those Privileges that had been granted to former Repeaters. |
3. a. A repeating watch or clock. Also attrib.
| 1725 C. Mordaunt Let. in E. Hamilton Mordaunts (1965) vii. 141 It [sc. a watch] is a silent Repeator. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. vii. 290 She did further rob the said right hon. &c. of a large purse of money, his gold repeater, snuff⁓box, diamond-ring. 1770 Gentl. Mag. XL. 438 [To] the four..[he gave] a gold watch each, one of which was a Paris repeater. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol ii, He touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 203 Repeater racks..should be..polished underhand. Ibid. 224 Repeaters were first made about 1676. |
b. Naut. A repeating ship.
| 1782 S. Hood Let. 30 Apr. (1895) 135 Sir George..took the Eurydice, Admiral Drake's repeater, to carry his duplicate despatches. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay iii, The signal officers of a repeater had to make out the number of the flag. 1846 Young Naut. Dict., Repeaters or Repeating Ships. |
c. A repeating fire-arm.
| 1868 Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 27 This rifle is both a breech-loader and a repeater. 1886 Pall Mall G. 14 Dec. 7/2 The loading of the repeater can be done in four movements. |
d. In Telegraphy. A device for automatically retransmitting signals from one circuit to another. Also in Teleph.
| 1859 T. P. Shaffner Telegr. Man. xxxv. 486 If the line be 600 miles long, and the battery arrangements fail to charge it sufficient for telegraphing, it is the practice to operate it by..the application of an apparatus called a repeater. 1860 G. B. Prescott Electr. Telegr. 93 A repeater is an apparatus designed for the purpose of duplicating from one electric circuit to another the breaks and completions received from the transmitting station. 1870 Pope Electr. Tel. iv. (1872) 45 It was formerly customary to reunite the messages at some intermediate station, but this duty is now usually performed by an apparatus called a repeater. 1923 Sci. Amer. Feb. 106/2 The development of the vacuum tube repeaters..put an entirely different aspect on the problems which have confronted the telephone engineer in the past. Ibid. 106/3 These repeaters are placed at regular intervals along the line and as the currents become weakened they pick them up, and..deliver back into the line a current many times stronger. 1958 Times 1 July 8/3 The idea behind the work now in hand is to make possible the inclusion of submerged repeaters at more frequent intervals along the cable, which would proportionately increase the capacity of the communications system. 1972 Sci. Amer. Sept. 102/2 Each repeater used in coaxial cables and each relay station used in microwave links adds some noise, mostly from its input circuits. |
e. = relay n. 4 b. Freq. attrib.
| 1936 R.C.A. Rev. I. 26 The modulations are passed on to the distant terminal via the repeater stations. 1940 Ibid. V. 36 In order to choose the proper amplifying system it becomes necessary to know the amount of gain to be incorporated in each repeater amplifier. 1946 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. VI. 72 Yet three repeater stations circling the Earth could provide a steady, reliable service from Pole to Pole with little more power output than the present London transmitter. 1947 Proc. IRE XXXV. 1226/1 In communications systems involving a number of similar repeaters, the distortion permissible in a single repeater is very small. 1959 Aeroplane XCVII. 542/1 (caption) The 500-lb. repeater satellite proposed by the Space Electronics Corporation. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 674/1 Early Bird is an active repeater satellite. That is, it receives signals from powerful ground stations, amplifies them, and rebroadcasts them to the ground. 1972 Sci. Amer. Feb. 15/1 Microwaves do not bend with the curvature of the earth, so that for long links it is necessary to use repeaters. 1979 Ibid. Jan. 62/3 One example of a ‘next generation’ circuit that could be built with existing technology is a repeater station in a fiber-optics communication link. |
4. Arith. A recurring decimal.
| 1773 Encycl. Brit. I. 397/2 Pure repeaters take their rise from vulgar fractions whose denominator is 3, or its multiple 9. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. iv, Do what one will, there is ever a cursed fraction, oftenest a decimal repeater. |
5. Chiefly U.S. a. One who votes, or attempts to vote, more than once at an election.
| 1868 [see colonist 3]. 1871 Scribner's Monthly I. 366 Repeaters changed their coats and hats after every vote. 1884 Fortn. Rev. Mar. 389 A leader of a gang of repeaters before the ink on his fraudulent naturalization papers was dry. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lxiv. 474 [Troy] is full of fellows who go to serve as ‘repeaters’ at Albany elections. 1904 [see colonizer 2]. |
b. One who is frequently committed to prison. Also, one who repeats an offence; a recidivist.
| 1884 Fortn. Rev. Mar. 389 A repeater before he was of age; a rounder, bruiser, and shoulder-hitter. 1890 Chicago Advance 4 Dec., A class of repeaters or rounders, as they are termed, some..recommitted more than a hundred times to the same prison. 1899 J. Flynt Tramping iv. 386 ‘Revolver’ or ‘repeater’, is both a tramp and a criminal term for the professional offender, who is continually being brought up for trial. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Yr. 185/1 These young felons are what prison language describes as ‘repeaters’, young ‘old offenders’, who have previously, almost continuously, served prison sentences. 1954 Daily Mail 10 Mar. 5/6 As regards the ‘repeaters’, if a child sees his name in the papers it may well be an incentive..to future wrongdoing. 1965 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 18 July (1970) 303, I asked Nick about repeaters among young criminals. He used some horrifying figure—I believe it was 70 percent. 1977 Time 11 July 35/1 After stronger juvenile laws were enacted and violent repeaters were finally jailed in New Orleans, teen⁓age homicides declined from 29 in 1973 to five in 1975. |
c. One who repeats an athletic feat. Also gen., one who repeats an achievement or success.
| 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 456/2 He is a ‘repeater’ of the first rank, such performances as winning two three-mile races in the same day..seeming easy for him. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 13 Jan. 11/2 Mr. Fetterman and Mr. Huffer..got.. certificates for their suggestions. Mr. Fetterman is a repeater. He..isn't sure just how many citations have come from the War Production Board for his ideas. |
d. Educ. A student who undergoes a course or period of instruction again.
| 1912 Jrnl. Educ. Psychol. June 328, 4640 of the children were ‘repeaters’... There is nothing to show whether the per cent. thus promoted consists of repeaters regaining their lost grade or of bright children who were skipping a grade. 1945 [see repeat v. 6 d]. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov. 17/3 Repeaters are assigned to schools and remedial classes according to age as well as grade. |
e. One who returns repeatedly, esp. to a hotel.
| 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 31/6 (Advt.), The Bremen probably has the largest number of repeaters on her cruises. 1971 New Yorker 4 Dec. 183/2 (Advt.), We're a small hotel... Almost all our guests are repeaters. 1977 Time 30 May 21/1 By last week the number of visitors had passed 60,000 (including repeaters), even though news accounts of the ‘miracle’ cloth have been spotty. |