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digital computer
noun
: a computer that operates with numbers expressed directly as digits compare analog computer, hybrid computer
Examples of digital computer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Meanwhile, spin waves have wavelengths of around 100 nanometers and offer a different vision for analog computing more aligned to the predominantly electronic world of digital computers.
—IEEE Spectrum, 17 Feb. 2024
In fact, its roots stretch back to World War II, with the invention of the first digital computers.
—Zafar Daud, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2024
Implementing such algorithms on digital computers invariably involves approximation, but theoretical analysis of their limitations is plagued by subtleties stemming from those approximations.
—Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 3 Jan. 2024
Indeed, smart money in Silicon Valley holds that digital computers will be able to replicate and soon exceed anything and everything that humans are capable of.
—Christof Kochgiulio Tononi, IEEE Spectrum, 25 May 2017
The air force determined the nation should build a massive radar network tied to digital computers.
—Marc Wortman, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023
Today’s digital computers are based on extremely low connectivity (with the output of one transistor wired to the input of a handful of transistors), compared with that of central nervous systems (in which a cortical neuron receives inputs and makes outputs to tens of thousands of other neurons).
—Christof Koch, Scientific American, 8 Sep. 2023
Tech is exceptional because digital computers and networks are universal, and universal things are interoperable, and interoperability lowers switching costs.
—Cory Doctorow, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2023
Is there a bias—or perhaps a fear—against technology and digital computers in the arts?
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 1 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'digital computer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1946, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near digital computer
Cite this Entry
“Digital computer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/digital%20computer. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
digital computer
noun
: a computer that operates with numbers expressed as digits (as in the binary system) compare analog computer
More from Merriam-Webster on digital computer
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about digital computer
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