receiver

Noun

receiver (plural receivers)

1. (historical) An official whose job is to receive taxes or other monies; a tax collector, a treasurer.
2. A person who receives something in a general sense; a recipient.
   • I, the writer of this paper, have been, for some time, a chosen receiver of Begging Letters.1850, Charles Dickens, “The Begging-Letter Writer”, in Household Words
3. A person who accepts stolen goods.
4. A person or company appointed to settle the affairs of an insolvent entity.
   • This was the West Lancashire Railway, an ambitious but feckless little concern which, in a life lasting a quarter of a century, never earned a dividend, failed to keep up its debenture payments (despite a dangerous attempt to do so by issuing more debentures) and ended up in the hands of a receiver.1960 March, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Preston—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 201
   • It took the name Midland & South Western Junction in 1884 and reached Cheltenham, with its M.R. connection, in 1891; but poverty continued - a receiver had been appointed in 1884.1961 October, “Talking of Trains: Last of the M.S.W.J.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 585

   Synonyms:

   insolvency administrator, insolvency practitioner, liquidator, administrator, court administrator, trustee in bankruptcy

5. An offensive player who catches the ball after it has been passed.
6. A person who attempts to return the serve.
7. Something which receives some substance or object, in a general sense; a receptacle.
8. A vessel for receiving and holding the products of distillation, or for containing gases.
9. (historical) An airtight vessel from which air is pumped in order to form a vacuum.
   • A man can live in thick air, but perishes in an exhausted receiver.1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford, published 2008, page 839
10. The part of a firearm containing the action.
11. (historical) A vessel for receiving the exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder before it enters the low-pressure cylinder, in a compound steam engine.
12. Any of several electronic devices that receive electromagnetic waves, or signals transmitted as such.
    • The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)

    Antonyms:

    transmitter

13. The part of a telephone handset contained in the earpiece; (hence) the handset itself; an earpiece.
    • There they waited until after eleven, then Paulvitch took down the receiver of their telephone. He called a number.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Plot That Failed”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 60
14. A swaption which gives its holder the option to enter into a swap in which they pay the floating leg and receive the fixed leg.