receiver

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman receverre, receivour et al., later also reformed as receive + -er. Compare recevor, rescaivour.

noun

1. A person.
   1. (now 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.
      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
   5. (American football) An offensive player who catches the ball after it has been passed.
   6. (racquet sports) A person who attempts to return the serve.
2. An item or apparatus.
   1. Something which receives some substance or object, in a general sense; a receptacle.
   2. (chemistry) A vessel for receiving and holding the products of distillation, or for containing gases.
   3. (now chiefly 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
   4. (firearms) The part of a firearm containing the action.
   5. (now 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.
   6. 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)
   7. The part of a telephone handset contained in the earpiece; (hence) the handset itself; an earpiece.
   8. (finance) 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.