VACUUM TUBE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does vacuum tube mean? 

• VACUUM TUBE (noun)
  The noun VACUUM TUBE has 1 sense:

1. electronic device consisting of a system of electrodes arranged in an evacuated glass or metal envelope

  Familiarity information: VACUUM TUBE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VACUUM TUBE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Electronic device consisting of a system of electrodes arranged in an evacuated glass or metal envelope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

electron tube; thermionic tube; thermionic vacuum tube; thermionic valve; tube; vacuum tube

Hypernyms ("vacuum tube" is a kind of...):

electronic device (a device that accomplishes its purpose electronically)

Meronyms (parts of "vacuum tube"):

control grid; grid (an electrode placed between the cathode and anode of a vacuum tube to control the flow of electrons through the tube)

plate (the positively charged electrode in a vacuum tube)

electrode (a conductor used to make electrical contact with some part of a circuit)

cathode (a negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device)

anode (a positively charged electrode by which electrons leave an electrical device)

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

acorn tube (a small vacuum tube; used at high frequencies)

diode; rectifying tube; rectifying valve (a thermionic tube having two electrodes; used as a rectifier)

electron multiplier (a vacuum tube that amplifies a flow of electrons)

gas-discharge tube (a tube in which an electric discharge takes place through a gas)

klystron (an electron tube used to generate or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the microwave region by velocity modulation)

magnetron (a diode vacuum tube in which the flow of electrons from a central cathode to a cylindrical anode is controlled by crossed magnetic and electric fields; used mainly in microwave oscillators)

pentode (a thermionic tube having five electrodes)

television-camera tube; television pickup tube (a tube that rapidly scans an optical image and converts it into electronic signals)

tetrode (a thermionic tube having four electrodes)

triode (a thermionic vacuum tube having three electrodes; fluctuations of the charge on the grid control the flow from cathode to anode which makes amplification possible)

X-ray tube (a vacuum tube containing a metal target onto which a beam of electrons is directed at high energy for the generation of X rays)

Holonyms ("vacuum tube" is a part of...):

circuit; electric circuit; electrical circuit (an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow)

 Context examples 

An electrode placed between the cathode and anode of a vacuum tube to control the flow of electrons through the tube.

(Grid, NCI Thesaurus)