RECEPTACLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does receptacle mean? 

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

1. a container that is used to put or keep things in

2. enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts

3. an electrical (or electronic) fitting that is connected to a source of power and equipped to receive an insert

  Familiarity information: RECEPTACLE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RECEPTACLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A container that is used to put or keep things in

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

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

ashtray (a receptacle for the ash from smokers' cigars or cigarettes)

trough (a long narrow shallow receptacle)

tray (an open receptacle for holding or displaying or serving articles or food)

tidy (receptacle that holds odds and ends (as sewing materials))

cuspidor; spittoon (a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place))

socket (receptacle where something (a pipe or probe or end of a bone) is inserted)

silent butler (a small receptacle with a handle and a hinged lid; used for collecting crumbs or ashes)

save-all (a receptacle for catching waste products for further use)

pix; pyx (any receptacle in which wafers for the Eucharist are kept)

collection plate; plate (a shallow receptacle for collection in church)

out-basket; out-tray (a wood or metal receptacle placed on your desk to hold your outgoing material)

ossuary (any receptacle for the burial of human bones)

hot-water bag; hot-water bottle (a stoppered receptacle (usually made of rubber) that is to be filled with hot water and used for warming a bed or parts of the body)

ash-pan (a receptacle fitted beneath the grate in which ashes collect and are removed)

beehive; hive (a man-made receptacle that houses a swarm of bees)

case; compositor's case; typesetter's case ((printing) the receptacle in which a compositor has his type, which is divided into compartments for the different letters, spaces, or numbers)

cat box (a receptacle for cat excrement)

catchall (an enclosure or receptacle for odds and ends)

chamberpot; potty; thunder mug (a receptacle for urination or defecation in the bedroom)

coin box (the part of a slot machine that serves as a receptacle for the coins)

dustpan (a short-handled receptacle into which dust can be swept)

garbage (a receptacle where waste can be discarded)

hopper (funnel-shaped receptacle; contents pass by gravity into a receptacle below)

in-basket; in-tray (a wood or metal receptacle placed on your desk to hold your incoming material)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

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

plant part; plant structure (any part of a plant or fungus)

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

gynobase (the enlarged receptacle in which the pistil is borne)

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

stalk; stem (a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An electrical (or electronic) fitting that is connected to a source of power and equipped to receive an insert

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

fitting (a small and often standardized accessory to a larger system)

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

outlet box ((electricity) receptacle consisting of the metal box designed for connections to a wiring system)

expansion slot; slot ((computer) a socket in a microcomputer that will accept a plug-in circuit board)

socket (a receptacle into which an electric device can be inserted)

electric outlet; electric receptacle; electrical outlet; outlet; wall plug; wall socket (receptacle providing a place in a wiring system where current can be taken to run electrical devices)

 Context examples 

A large receptacle used for holding, transporting, or storing liquids or gases, and often referred to as a reservoir.

(Packaging Tank, NCI Thesaurus)

From this tin receptacle Jo produced another manuscript, and putting both in her pocket, crept quietly downstairs, leaving her friends to nibble on her pens and taste her ink.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A receptacle for holding something (e.g., that into which some oral contraceptive blister packs are placed).

(Packaging Case, NCI Thesaurus)

A receptacle with a body constructed of film, woven plastic, woven fabric, paper or combination thereof, together with any appropriate service equipment and handling devices, and if necessary, an inner coating or liner.

(Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container, NCI Thesaurus)

This was done by dumping them into a spinning receptacle that went at a rate of a few thousand revolutions a minute, tearing the water from the clothes by centrifugal force.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Darkness had no effect upon my fancy, and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He remembered all about the incident of the boxes, and from a wonderful dog's-eared notebook, which he produced from some mysterious receptacle about the seat of his trousers, and which had hieroglyphical entries in thick, half-obliterated pencil, he gave me the destinations of the boxes.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o'clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby's, with innumerable receptacles to contain it.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)