local oscillator
noun · n
Simple meaning
An oscillator whose output heterodynes with the incoming radio signal to produce sum and difference tones.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lohkuhlahsuhlayterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈloʊkəˈlɑsəleɪtɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An oscillator whose output heterodynes with the incoming radio signal to produce sum and difference tones
n
In electronics, a local oscillator is an electronic oscillator used with a mixer to change the frequency of a signal.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An oscillator whose output heterodynes with the incoming radio signal to produce sum and difference tones
Used this way, local oscillator is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.