ANTENNA (antennae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: antennae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does antenna mean? 

• ANTENNA (noun)
  The noun ANTENNA has 3 senses:

1. an electrical device that sends or receives radio or television signals

2. sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ

3. one of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g. insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch and taste

  Familiarity information: ANTENNA used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANTENNA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An electrical device that sends or receives radio or television signals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

aerial; antenna; transmitting aerial

Hypernyms ("antenna" is a kind of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "antenna"):

dipole; dipole antenna (an aerial half a wavelength long consisting of two rods connected to a transmission line at the center)

directional antenna (an antenna that transmits or receives signals only in a narrow angle)

nondirectional antenna; omnidirectional antenna (an antenna that sends or receives signals equally in all directions)

Holonyms ("antenna" is a part of...):

receiver; receiving system (set that receives radio or tv signals)

sender; transmitter (set used to broadcast radio or tv signals)

Derivation:

antennal; antennary (of or relating to antennae)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sensitivity similar to that of a receptor organ

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

antenna; feeler

Context example:

he had a special antenna for public relations

Hypernyms ("antenna" is a kind of...):

sensitiveness; sensitivity (the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

One of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g. insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch and taste

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

antenna; feeler

Hypernyms ("antenna" is a kind of...):

tentacle (any of various elongated tactile or prehensile flexible organs that occur on the head or near the mouth in many animals; used for feeling or grasping or locomotion)

Derivation:

antennal; antennary (of or relating to antennae)

 Context examples 

The telemetry and tracking data were received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna station in Canberra, Australia.

(Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet, NASA)

In all of the experiments, the mice were about three feet away from the command antenna.

(Futuristic brain probe allows for wireless control of neurons, NIH)

Using a radio antenna not much larger than a refrigerator, the researchers discovered that ancient suns were active within 180 million years of the Big Bang.

(Astronomers detect ancient signal from first stars in universe, National Science Foundation)

As a protective measure, the spacecraft used its large, dish-shaped high-gain antenna (13 feet or 4 meters across) as a shield, orienting it in the direction of oncoming ring particles.

(Cassini Spacecraft Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings, NASA)

So adding an antenna will increase the level of exposure.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)

Dawn recently emerged from solar conjunction, in which the spacecraft is on the opposite side of the sun, limiting communication with antennas on Earth.

(Dawn Spacecraft Begins Approach to Dwarf Planet Ceres, NASA)

This network is a collection of large antennas at three locations around the globe that communicate with interplanetary spacecraft.

(What's Inside Ceres? New Findings from Gravity Data, NASA)

Loss of contact with the Cassini spacecraft occurred at 7:55 a.m. EDT (4:55 a.m. PDT), with the signal received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex in Canberra, Australia.

(Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn, NASA)

An electronic switching device that allows an antenna to be used for both transmitting and receiving.

(Duplexer Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Have 3 pairs of legs, 3 body regions, 1 pair of antennae, and often 1-2 pairs of wings; 26 Orders, 703,500 known species.

(Insect, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)