Commutator

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Commutator \Com"mu*ta`tor\, n. (Elec.)
     A piece of apparatus used for reversing the direction of an
     electrical current; an attachment to certain electrical
     machines, by means of which alternating currents are made to
     be continuous or to have the same direction. It may be
     attached to the end of the spindle of an electric motor,


     where a brush is in contact sequentially with the parts of
     the spindle that conduct current to the different windings of
     the motor.
     [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  commutator
       n : switch for reversing the direction of an electric current